Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A spokesperson of the Interior Ministry on Monday strongly contradicted the statement issued by PPP spokesperson Mr Farhatullah Babar. The spokesperson said that it had become a habit with PPP leaders to issue distorted and contradictory statements frequently indulging in double-speak and beating around the bush. If indeed the Difa-i-Pakistan Council was such a questionable organization, then why didn’t the PPP government resist its formation in 2009? More importantly, where was Mr. Babar when the same organization held large-scale public meetings and media conference during the tenure of the PPP government?

He said it was a matter of record that the former President had interactions with members of proscribed organizations who had met him during his tenure at Aiwan-e-Sadr and pictures were available on record and printed by national dailies at the time. Perhaps at that time Farhatullah Babar was not aware of these meetings in spite of being present in the presidency. Again, it is not just the President but a long list of PPP leaders with whom records and photographs of meetings with members of proscribed organizations are available which can be made available on demand.

He said that Mr. Babar’s conscious efforts to subvert the successes achieved against terrorism in the last three years couldn’t be excused. Mr. Babar’s views are nothing less than insulting the realities and facts on the ground. Terrorist incidents taking place in one year alone, when PPP was at the zenith of its power was 2060, this year’s figures are 754; the hard truth is that does not appeal to Mr. Babar or to his party and that while his government did nothing to address the monster of terrorism, the present government’s record speaks for itself.

The attention of PPP is also drawn towards the internationally recognised and admissible fact that “terrorism and hardcore militancy and extremism was at its lowest ebb since the last decade in Pakistan. This was acknowledged by US policy think tanks, other global terrorism monitoring forums, foreign governments and international media.”