PMLN blasts Bugti over remarks on ‘Nawaz’s arrest’

ISLAMABAD: Former interior minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday hit back at incumbent caretaker security czar Sarfraz Bugti for saying that party supremo Nawaz Sharif would be arrested on his return if he was not granted bail, Geo News reported.

Reacting to Bugti’s remarks, Sanaullah said the minister had crossed his limits by making such a statement. “Sarfraz Bugti should see the fate of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid before giving such remarks,” the PML-N leader said. Sanaullah said people and the country bore the brunt of the conspiracy allegedly hatched against Nawaz to oust him from power.

“Don’t try to elevate your political stature by making statements about Nawaz Sharif,” Sanaullah said, asking Bugti to stop worrying about Nawaz and concen trate on his duties. Sanaullah said the people would decide where Nawaz would go from the airport on October 21 and not the interior minister.

Meanwhile, PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb also warned the interior minister against making such statements. “Mr Sarfraz Bugti, speak according to your political stature. Where Nawaz Sharif has to go from the airport is neither your problem nor your decision,” she added.

After drawing the ire of the PMLN leaders, Bugti issued a statement clarifying that his remarks were taken out of the context. “My statement was given a political colour out of context. The caretaker government has no political agenda,” Bugti was quoted as saying in the statement.

He also welcomed the Nawaz’s return to the country, saying that a “large number of people of Pakistan are preparing to welcome Nawaz Sharif”. He said Nawaz would be treated according to law on his return home.