Nawaz learnt no lesson from past: Zardari

Says nothing could be proved against Dr Asim; terms case against Munawar Talpur a new year gift

ISLAMABAD: Former president and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari says Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has not learnt any lesson from the past.

In a statement issued on Saturday from Dubai where he is staying, the PPP leader said the government could not prove any charges against Dr Asim Hussain and now it had registered a false case against Mir Munawar Talpur.

“Case against Dr Asim was a gift of the year 2015, and now we are grateful to Nawaz Sharif for this first gift of the new year,” he said.

“We had faced atrocities in the past, and would continue to fight in the future,” the former president said.

In a separate statement issued from Karachi, the PPP said the PML-N government in the Centre had once again renewed the 1990s’ politics of revenge and was grossly violating the spirit and the joint communiqué of the Charter of Democracy, which was also signed by the incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“The PML-N is now throwing itself into political isolation by commencing the politics of revenge. The framing of a fake case against a very sane, respectable politician of Sindh and senior PPP leader Mir Munawar Ali Talpur is not only based on ill-will but is also a manifestation of completion of a secret agenda of some institutions, which is a continuation of bogus cases against Sindh Higher Education Commission chairman Dr Asim Hussain,” the statement said.

While addressing Daniyal Aziz, the statement said that he should keep his logic and interpretation to him because the framing of Munawar Talpur in a fake case was only a continuation of political victimisation.

It said the PPP is the party of martyrs and dedicated workers that has always challenged the dictators. It said the PPP does not believe in politics of revenge but believes that democracy is the best revenge

Meanwhile, Sindh Information Adviser Maula Bakhsh Chandio said the PPP cannot even think of battling the Federation. He said Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan appears to be a viceroy who talks even in public as if he was insulting them.

Talking to the media, he said there was a storm of noise when the issue of Rangers’ special powers was at a standstill and that those politicking over the issue had become silent now that the issue had been resolved.

“We had said it even then that we won’t fight with the Federation because Pakistan’s prime minister is our prime minister too,” he said, adding that they have tolerated a lot of criticism only to ‘save’ democracy in the country.

The adviser said false news about the interior minister’s contact with the chief minister Sindh have surfaced, adding that they still await the latter to visit them and talk.

Responding to a question, Chandio said all ethnicities and provinces should be taken into confidence on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

He said Qaim Ali Shah is the chief of the province even if he wasn’t the captain. He said the CM Sindh has a mandate which the Federation should respect.

Chandio said the Sindh government had only expressed its reservations to the Federation within the constitutional bounds, hoping that PM Nawaz will take notice of it. He said accountability of people’s representatives should be the ‘democratic way’ to avoid an impression of ‘revenge’.

Responding to a question about the Tharparkar drought and deaths of children due to malnutrition, Chandio said the reason for Thar’s condition is not the drought but shortage of food and lack of healthcare facilities. He said the issues of smaller provinces increase when the PML-N comes into power.