This is not ‘Ehtesab’ but ‘Istehsal’, claims Nawaz

DIR: Terming the ongoing ‘Ehtesab’ (accountability) against him ‘Istehsal’ (exploitation), Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said the people of Pakistan would not accept it.

“We are committed to developing Pakistan, but a particular group is out to sabotage the development process,” he told a public meeting after inaugurating the long-awaited Lowari Tunnel linking Chitral with the Upper Dir district and the rest of Pakistan.

He questioned the intent behind the investigation of the PanamaLeaks case involving him and his family.“Let me warn the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and those politicians [who are pressing for my accountability] that nobody in Pakistan will accept this [kind] of accountability. I say it with guarantee,” he declared, stopping short of saying he would not accept the outcome of the ongoing case in the Supreme Court.

“This is not accountability, this is manipulation,” he maintained as he spoke with bitterness to a crowd of his PML-N members, supporters and others who had gathered to celebrate the inauguration of the major project costing Rs28 billion.

Nawaz said the head of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) gave undue favour to his cousin who was running a one-man company in a single room in London by paying him more than 49,000 pounds sterling for a small task. Pointing to the audience, he said: “It was your money but they misused it.”

He claimed the owner of the London-based company had been a member of the PTI. “Do they want to do my accountability through such type of people?” he asked.He wondered how come his opponents were demanding his accountability. “Instead, they should be made answerable and that too publicly,” he argued.

“Are all others pious angels? Are they Sadiq and Ameen?” he asked sarcastically. It was obviously an attempt to tell the people that he was being singled out.

“Are you holding a person accountable who has never been blemished by corruption?” he posed another question.“Don’t test my patience, as no one can tolerate one’s humiliation. I keep my respect dear to me and will not permit allegation mongering and foul-mouthing,” he said. “Today some people are talking about my accountability. They are seeking accountability of a person who is building power plants, roads, infrastructure and changing the lives of the people. I have always asked what corruption have I done? Have I got some commission by selling trees? Did I get kickbacks of billions in the Lowari Tunnel, on new roads, or power projects? On the contrary, we saved Rs168 billion in three power projects. I cannot tolerate such ridiculous allegations against me. For me, my respect and that of my family is far more important than anything else,” he said.

He warned his opponents not to test his patience and said he was being victimised in the name of accountability; something which the people of Pakistan would not accept. He reminded that those demanding his resignation needed a reality check as they had been rejected by the masses, not only in 2002, 2008, and 2013 but would be rejected again in 2018.

Referring to the demand by the opposition parties for his resignation, he said they had been begging him to resign every morning and every evening.

Nawaz Sharif also criticised the past rulers for ignoring the vital and much-needed projects like the Lowari Tunnel.“The project should have been completed decades ago had successive rulers been sincere with the people of Chitral,” he said.

Nawaz said after coming into power, he directed the National Highway Authority to resume work on the Lowari Tunnel project. “Rs26 billion were required for the project. I decided to allocate the amount come what may,” he recalled. He said his government had so far spent Rs21 billion on the tunnel and completed 98 percent work on the project.

“Now the people of Chitral would have the all-weather connectivity with other parts of the country,” he told a cheering crowd.

Nawaz Sharif said the MNA from Chitral Shahzada Iftikharuddin was the only candidate of Pervez Musharraf-led party in the 2013 general election to win a seat anywhere in Pakistan.

He said Iftikharudin had been planning to join the PML-N since his victory, but he advised him to continue working for the betterment of the people of Chitral.

He said on the request of Shahzada Iftikharuddin, natural gas plants would be installed at Booni, Mastuj, Mulkhow and Garam Chashma in Chitral. He also announced that natural gas would be supplied to the Upper Dir district.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, former Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, and PML-N provincial president Amir Muqam, who is also an adviser to the prime minister, accompanied the prime minister on the occasion.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formally inaugurated the 8.5-km Lowari Tunnel. The tunnel was completed in 12 years at a cost of Rs28 billion.

Construction of the Lowari Tunnel has been a long-standing demand of the people of the area, which was neglected in the past.

It will connect Chitral with the rest of the country round-the-year in addition to future prospects of providing an access to the Central Asian Republics.

The tunnel cuts through the 10,400 meter-high Lowari Pass that has dirt zigzag road marked by dozens of dangerous hairpin curves. The pass used to be closed due to heavy snowfall in winters, forcing Chitralis to cross it risking their lives and taking hours for reaching their destinations.

Also, in the previous years, the people of Chitral used to drive through Afghanistan in dangerous conditions to re-enter Pakistan via the Nawa Pass and reach Bajaur.