Daily Times

Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Sunday said the National Action Plan was initiated in 2014 and all the political parties played their role in this regard

“The then PPP government had launched a successful operation against terrorists in Swat, while the PML-N government achieved success in North and South Waziristan under NAP, while the incumbent PTI government is removing lacunae in the plan,” the minister said while addressing a press conference here at the Press Information Department (PID). He said NAP is not a political matter but an issue of the writ of the state and is equally beneficial for all the political parties.

The minister said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is out on the ‘Save Father’ mission. “After this mission, Bilawal will also have to start ‘Abbu Nikalo’ (release father) movement. It is very unfortunate that when Asif Ali Zardari is being investigated for Rs 5,000 billion alleged corruption, his son is threatening a train march”, the minister remarked.

To a question, Fawad said it is ironic that Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and Khursheed Shah are now worried about democracy and Pakistan, asserting that Maulana seems more worried about being away from Islamabad. “Since 1988, Maulana for the first time has been out of the parliament. In the absence of Fazalur Rehman, the parliament appears even more peaceful and working effectively,” he added.

To another question, he said Bilawal Bhutto should also have seen Khursheed Shah’s pictures with terrorists, and added that no one could be removed from his parliamentary office on the basis of mere pictures. He said the PPP chairman will have to change his narrative in this regard.

Responding to queries, the minister said the opposition parties are free to lodge their protests. “However, no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands by throwing stones at policemen and the media persons and ransacking the public and private properties under the garb of protest demonstrations,” he warned. “The PTI government did not impose Anti-Terrorism Act on the detained workers of opposition parties,” he said, and recalled that the past governments imposed this act on the PTI workers and even its chairman during the party’s sit-in in Islamabad.

‘Goebbels of the puppet government’

PPP issued a quick response to the information minister’s remarks, terming him the ‘Goebbels (referring to the propaganda minister of Nazi Germany) of the puppet government’. “The country knows that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan are two sides of the same coin,” alleged PPP leader Nafisa Shah. “Bilawal wants to save Pakistan which faces danger from banned organisations,” she claimed. “Bilawal’s statements hurt Imran Khan and when Imran Khan is hurt then NAB becomes more charged than ever,” she said, adding that the PPP only seeks a complete implementation of the NAP.