ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of the opposition parties, has expressed serious concerns over the delay in investigation of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Captain Safdar's (retd) alleged arrest under duress from his hotel room in Karachi last month.
"Despite the assurance of the army chief that the investigation would be completed in 10 days, no headway has been made after passing of three weeks," PDM President and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman expressed these views, while addressing a news conference on Sunday after a PDM meeting.
Former prime ministers, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the PML-N and Raja Pervez Ashraf of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), chief of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Awami National Party (ANP) leaders, Amir Haider Khan Hoti and Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Balochistan National Party-Mengal's Akhtar Mengal, and Qaumi Watan Party's Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, and others participated in the meeting.
Maulana said, "The PDM has decided to take our movement forward and a schedule for more rallies in the various cities of Pakistan was discussed."
He said that the PDM also decided to hold public gatherings on November 22 in Peshawar, on November 30 in Multan, and on December 13 in Lahore. He said that the meeting decided to chalk out a charter for restoration of the Constitution and real democracy in the country. He said that for this purpose, a meeting of Steering Committee of the PDM would be held on November 13, and the opposition parties would present their proposals for the charter of agreement. He said that a meeting of the PDM would be held on November 14 to finalise the charter. He said that the PDM would deliberate on the recommendations of the steering committee and give the agreement a final shape.
Maulana said that the 11-party Opposition platform eyed more rallies in several parts of the country. He said that the country's political situation was deliberated upon and the 'most urgent issue' of the economic crisis in Pakistan was also discussed.
"One of the major challenges of the country is economic crisis, which has made lives of the masses miserable, and made it difficult for them to make both ends meet," he said.
He said that from the PPP, Asif Ali Zardari attended the meeting via video-link. He said that the PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif also attended the meeting from London via video link, and the participants deliberated upon the overall political situation of the country.
He said, "A person is no longer able to lead a dignified life (in Pakistan)."
He said that despite members of the opposition facing cases launched by the National Accountability Bureau and other institutions, a decision in the case of 'PTI's foreign funding' was still pending.
The PDM president said that cases were being filed against the opposition leaders but there was 'silence', when it came to the PTI leader, Jahangir Tareen's 'corruption'.
The JUI-F chief said the opposition leaders also expressed serious concerns and condemned the controversial statement of Interior Minister Brig (retd) Ijaz Shah.
"The statement tantamount to threatening the PML-N leaders that their party members would be killed in the same manner Awami National Party (ANP) workers were killed," he maintained.
He said that the meeting also expressed concerns over the arrest of Editor-in-Chief Jang and Geo Group Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman who has been incarcerated for over 200 days, despite the expiry of the remand granted to the National Accountability Bureau.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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