Bhutto, Musharraf ruined Nawaz Sharif’s family business: minister

Minister asks PM’s rival where they were at that time; who will be held accountable for arresting 16-year-old Hamza and 72-year-old Mian Sharif; PML-N underwent forensic tests four times; Nawaz children live abroad under compulsion; asks Imran to move court over Panama Leaks; Saad says Imran wants to harm the country

LAHORE: Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid on Sunday said former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s nationalisation and former President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s revenge ruined the business of the Nawaz Sharif's family in Pakistan. He asked his rivals where they were at those times.

He said it was a matter of worry for those who faced a DNA test, as the PML-N had already undergone forensic tests four times in the past. Accompanied by Khawaja Saad Rafique and Talal Chaudhry, the information minister addressed a press conference hours before the address of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan at Charing Cross here.

He said PM Nawaz Sharif had presented himself for investigation by a judicial commission regarding the Panama leaks, as he had a clean record. The PML-N leaders claimed that the PTI was running away from the formation of the judicial commission after its own leaders were found owning offshore companies. He said the Sharif family businesses were well-established even before the creation of Pakistan. “Those who have accumulated black money are hindering the constitution of a probe commission comprising Supreme Court judges,” the minister alleged. He said those questioning the seed money for the businesses of Nawaz Sharif’s sons are tampering with the truth.

Pervaiz said the Sharif family was a family of hard workers, who had been exiled for three generations. He criticised Imran and asked why he did not speak up when he was standing behind former president Pervez Musharraf at the time of the referendum.

“None should scare us from a forensic audit; we have been through it four times,” the minister said. Referring to PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira, he said the Sharif family had already faced audits during the governments of Benazir Bhutto and General Musharraf.

Mud is being thrown at the party, so its leaders have to keep repeating the past to remind others, he added. “Who will be held accountable for arresting 16 years old Hamza Shahbaz and his 72 years old grandfather Mian Sharif,” he questioned. He asked the PTI chairman how much tax he paid when the Sharif family's factory was nationalised?

Mian Sharif started steel business in 1936 and thousands of workers were employed at his mill, he said and added that prime minister's children are not living abroad by choice but under compulsion, as they were refused a Pakistani passport. The elder son is living in Jeddah and the younger one in London, he added. Musharraf prevented PM's children from living in Pakistan, Rashid added.

Railways Minister Saad Rafique said the PTI chief was sowing seeds of hatred in the country's politics. He said the PTI rejected the verdict of the judicial commission which probed allegations of rigging in 2013 elections, but they didn't even bother to apologise over it later on.

The PML-N leader criticised Imran by stating that Khan should put an end to the show he was organising and move courts in order to seek response regarding investigation into the Panama leaks issue.

Saad said if issues could be decided by arranging rallies then the courts should be closed down. He suggested that Imran should do something serious and finish the "road show". “Those who cannot kill rats in Peshawar are trying to confront the lions of Lahore,” he said and added that the PML-N did not believe in politics of allegations. He said none wanted to criticise Imran or the PTI but the kind of politics he was practising gave the PML-N the right to respond.

Kh Saad said Imran should be ashamed of himself while talking about others and that he wanted to harm the country with his repeated failures. He also criticised PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto stating his mentors were not giving him right advices. He said PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan could verify the tax returns, submitted on annual basis to the Election Commission by the PML-N leaders. He said Nawaz Sharif did not bow before Pervez Musharraf. “Will he bow before baby Bilawal or Imran Khan now,” he asked.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah also responded to Bilawal's speech. He said calling Nawaz, who made Pakistan a nuclear power, a friend of India showed Bilawal's political weakness. He said Bilawal should focus on his own home before targeting corruption.

  APP adds: Pervaiz Rashid said Imran Khan's aides were the poorest when it comes to getting loans written off and the richest in case of sending money abroad at the cost of the country. He said the two close aides of Imran Khan, who were basically auto-teller machines (ATMs) for him, had recently transferred money abroad. The PTI chief declared such an action unlawful while his party leaders had confessed to their crime and they must be held accountable for the same.

“One of the two leaders was spending lavishly to meet all expenses of Imran Khan from kitchen to travels,” he alleged.  The minister said PM Nawaz Sharif and family was victimised on many occasions in the past, but on all these occasions there was nothing to prove against them. He said the Sharif family had set up six industries in Pakistan and one in Dubai when the then Chief Marshal Law Administrator Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalised Ittefaq Foundry and caused a loss of billions of rupees to them. Justice was not done to the family, he added.

The minister said if Imran Khan, while sitting in a glass house, would throw stone at others, then in return his house would be damaged. The information minister said PTI leader Jehangir Tareen was so poor a few years ago that he had to get his loans, which were issued from the public money, written off. He, however, suddenly became so rich that he remitted Rs0.52 billion abroad. He said Tareen set up offshore companies in 2011 and sent money abroad unlawfully in 2014. A flat and an offshore company were purchased earlier while the money was sent later. Tareen had himself admitted that he sent Rs0.52 billion in 2014 but the assets were purchased in 2011.

The minister said Imran Khan, during his visit to United Kingdom, lived at the homes owned by the Goldsmiths. Imran, he alleged, would be ashamed of revealing the names of the area where his two sons were being brought up in London. The name of the area could not be uttered by a Muslim, he added.

The minister said the masses must understand Imran's motive. Imran Khan had pushed Pakistan towards a crisis when the country had taken a new leap towards economic development and started journey from darkness to light.