Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has finally spoken on the memo associated in a section of the media with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in which 37 lawmakers — mostly from the ruling party — have been linked with banned sectarian groups. He has dismissed the memo as a fake and clarified that an investigation is underway to get to the bottom of the controversy. The government has also registered a case against the anchor of the ARY TV show — ‘Power play’. The anchor person had claimed that former PM Nawaz Sharif directed the IB to keep watch on these 37 legislators three weeks before he was removed from the office by the Supreme Court. As of now, it is the government’s word against that of the anchor person and 37 lawmakers are caught in the middle — their reputations at stake, since the government and the PML-N does not publically associate with any of the banned outfits concerned. The inquiry needs to ensure that both sides of the issue are probed, and it needs to be up to the satisfaction of the lawmakers concerned. With just a year left in the next general election, the ruling party would surely not want any needless controversies that can create rifts in its ranks. But a comprehensive inquiry is also needed in view of some major PML-N leaders’ history of association with sectarian outfits and others positions on the issue of sectarianism. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah is among these politicians. It is well known for links with the banned Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat (ASWJ) leader Maulana Ludhianvi. And not too long ago, the former interior minister from the party, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, made a statement that sectarian outfits were not a problem for the country. With this baggage, the PML-N government needs to ensure that the inquiry is taken to its logical conclusion and is to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. * Published in Daily Times, October 11th 2017.