Those maligning national institutions be penalized under Article 6: Rashid

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed Monday said those, who were maligning the national institutions for their political gains, must be penalized under Article 6 of the Constitution.

Addressing a press conference here, the minister said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) only wanted the judiciary to give verdicts in their favour.

Commenting about the press conference of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the minister said her whole talk revolved around him, judiciary, National Accountability Bureau and SAPM Asim Bajwa. But she did not even mentioned as to why the bail of PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif was rejected.

He said Nawaz Sharif too talked about his personal agenda instead of national security.

The minister reiterated that he was still awaiting PML-N’s response to the 10 questions he had put in his previous presser.

Recounting the questions, Sheikh Rashid asked Nawaz Sharif to tell the masses as how many meetings he had held with Osama bin Laden and who gave the residential address of Ajmal Kasab to a foreign news agency.

While questioning Nawaz’s repeated meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business tycoon Jundal, he said the PML-N’s 2013 election campaign was funded by Qatar.

He said that even the opposition party pressured the media not to expose them for coming along with the stone-laden vehicles to the NAB building in Lahore on the day of Maryam Nawaz’s appearance.

The minister viewed that the PML-N disliked former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar because they always liked the judges like Justice Qayyum and those who had always favored them through their verdicts.

He said the Panama case was decided by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and the incumbent Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who were the pillars of Pakistan's judiciary.

The minister also demanded strict action against the PML-N president for using foul language against the Pakistan Army following the rejection of his bail by the court. Being the best army in the Muslim world, the Pakistan Army had purged country of terrorism.

Contrary to the PML-N leaders, he said PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur silently went back homes after they were indicted by the court in corruption cases.

Sheikh Rashid once again reiterated his prediction that the opposition would be wiped out from the political scene by end of December or before January.

He said in her press conference, Maryam Nawaz made an attempt to make the national institutions controversial. The PML-N was against the China Pakistan Economic Corridor while both the PPP and PML-N wanted to destabilize the internal security on the behest of foreign forces.

"We will not allow anyone to destabilize the country at any cost'" he resolved.

The opposition’s all parties conference, he said, was aimed to pressure the government for an NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance). Due to the same reason, they kept mum during the last one year and were now speaking up out of desperation, he added.

The minister said the present government had spent its first two years for cleaning up the mess inherited from the previous regime and now the national economy was moving forward.

About JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he said his close associate Musa Khan had been arrested in a case of assets beyond means.

The railways minister challenged the opposition parties to hold a debate with him.

To a question, he said the opposition parties would never tender resignations from the assemblies or move a no confidence motion against the government.