SARDAR SIKANDER SHAHEEN & NUZHAT NAZAR
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz on Tuesday accused the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) of serving India’s agenda to create anarchy and instability in the country.
“The detestable activities they (PDM) are up to are only aimed at weakening this country,” he said addressing a press conference.
“By targeting Pakistan’s state institutions, especially the security apparatus, they (PDM, opposition) are serving India’s agenda,” he said.
“You saw that when the opposition ran out of options, it tried to block legislation on FATF (Financial Action Task Force) related bills in the Parliament. When they failed and they ran out of options—keeping in view that they have no programme or agenda to attract public support and their past record is extremely dirty—they started serving the agenda of the enemy after they failed to get NRO.”
Responding to opposition’s allegations regarding rigging in 2018 general elections the PM said Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi lost National Assembly election from his hometown of Murree but won NA seat from Lahore. Likewise, he said Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman lost the NA election but his son (Asjad Mahmood) won his NA seat. “The seats on which you lost the elections—elections were rigged there and the seats where you won had free and fair elections. No one is going to buy this logic,” he said.
The minister said PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah “will have to pay for spilling the blood of innocent and killing women and children in Model Town.” Faraz denied the allegations levelled by PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq that the government was behind vilification campaign against him. “We don’t need to do all these things—like installing banners against you. What you did is enough to attract the public outrage and you felt no shame or remorse after doing that,” he said referring to Sadiq’s controversial remarks regarding arrest of Indian fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman after Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets on February 27, 2019 in response to violation of Pakistan’s air space by Indian jets a day earlier.
“Your leader is unleashing his heinous propaganda against Pakistan from outside Pakistan,” the minister said.
Faraz said Pakistan’s economy was back on track and on way to attaining self-sufficiency.
Following the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to facilitate Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the government had decided that SMEs would get additional electricity on 50 percent reduced rates effective from November 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, he said.
The electricity would be provided to the industry on off-peak hours’ basis throughout the year, he added.
Faraz said the government had planned to announce a reasonable support price for wheat that would help reducing the artificial shortage of flour in the country. Sindh government’s failure to purchase wheat on time led to the flour shortage, he said.
