Emergence of truth, clarity in Hudaibiya case: Shahbaz

KARACHI: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, in a conversation with Shahzeb Khanzada on Geo TV’s programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath”, said on Friday that the Hudaibiya case has witnessed the emergence of truth and attainment of clarity.

People who wrongly accused us have failed miserably; there is a striking similarity between the Panama case and Imran’s case, he said. The Punjab CM further added that the most corrupt people sit around Imran Khan all the time. “Imran Khan and his party members are masters in wasting time,” he said.

Shahbaz Sharif said: “The darkness in Pakistan has come to an end. The credit must go to Nawaz Sharif. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government has not produced even a single kilowatt of electricity, while there is a potential to produce thousands of megawatts of energy in KP.

“Because of his Islamabad ‘dharna’, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects faced delays. This person kept saying it for four years that billions have been wasted on the Lahore Metro, but now he has himself taken a loan to kick off the metro project in KP. I have always said that there are corrupt people sitting around Imran Khan.”

This was stated by Shahbaz Sharif later in the programme. However, the programme was kicked off by Shahzeb Khanzada, who talked about three historic judgments on Friday. Shahzeb said: “Imran Khan cleared while Jahangir Tareen disqualified. The Supreme Court has announced verdict of one of the country’s history’s most important cases. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is happy as well as sad after hearing this verdict. However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has reservations regarding this decision. On the other hand, the PML-N is happy about one of the other verdicts announced by the Supreme Court today.

“The case that had been chasing the Sharif family for the past 17 years seems to be nearing its end. The court has rejected to reopen the Hudaibiya case. Since the Panama Leaks case had surfaced, the political scenario of Pakistan is only revolving around courts. The PTI approached the court to disqualify Nawaz Sharif. Following which, the court disqualified Nawaz Sharif.”

Shahzeb Khanzada further added: “When the PTI approached the court, then the PML-N also took the matter to the court to decide the future political course of action of Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen. For this reason, the eyes of the entire country are fixed on the judiciary. Will the court cases end now? Will they continue to haunt the political scenario of Pakistan? Will more applications be filed to disqualify each other or this matter will only stop here?”

“In the Jahangir Tareen and Imran Khan case, the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s three-member bench has monitored over 50 hearings over the course of 405 days, taking approximately 101 hours. After all the rigour, the Supreme Court has finally announced the verdict in this case. The apex court has rejected the application of PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi and cleared Imran Khan in the case.

“Hanif Abbasi had accused Imran Khan of hiding his assets, his flat and his offshore company, which is called the Niazi Services. He also added that Imran Khan is not an honest person; therefore, Khan must be disqualified. However, while rejecting Abbasi’s accusations, the apex court had cleared Imran Khan in a historic judgment on Friday, adding that Khan did not hide assets. The court accepted Imran Khan’s stance of being the beneficial owner of Niazi Services, which only had a London flat in its assets, nothing else. If he had shown his flat, then there was no point of showing the offshore company. He had not given a wrong statement; therefore, he cannot be termed as a dishonest person, the court clarified.

“The court also declared Imran Khan’s money trail for Bani Gala. The court also declared that the accusation on Imran Khan for buying a flat in Islamabad and not showing its orders was not correct. It added that Khan had declared this asset as per the requirements of law. On the other hand, the PTI was also accused of obtaining foreign funding; however, this matter was referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by the apex court, ordering it to thoroughly analyse — without prejudice — the accounts of the past five years (not more than the past five years).”

“Imran Khan was cleared by the Supreme Court of Pakistan; however, his close aide and PTI Secretary General Jahangir Tareen was disqualified. The apex court disqualified Tareen under Article 80 of the Constitution of Pakistan. It is important to mention here that Nawaz Sharif was also disqualified under this article, which means that Tareen is also disqualified for his whole life. Nawaz Sharif was only disqualified for hiding his assets. On the other hand, Tareen not only has been disqualified for hiding his assets, but also for telling lies and giving misstatements.

“The doors of parliamentary politics are closed for Jahangir Tareen now. The ECP has also declared Tareen’s seat as vacant.”

Expressing his stance on the Supreme Court’s verdict, Jahangir Tareen tweeted that the Supreme Court had rejected the accusations against him, including the misuse of authority, loan write-off, insider trading and misdeclared agri-income. He further tweeted that the SC accepted that London property’s full money trail was not hidden, and was declared in children's assets since 2011. Then the SC has disqualified me on mere interpretation of the trust deed, he questioned in the tweet.

Shahzeb added: “Tareen is also saying the same things that Nawaz Sharif used to say after the Panamagate verdict. Tareen is adamant that no corruption charges had been proven against him, and he was only disqualified for not receiving salary from his son. Jahangir Tareen believes that he has been disqualified for merely (wrong) interpretation of the trust deed. On the same day, the Supreme Court has also relieved the Sharif family from the case that had been haunting the family for the past 17 years. For this case, it was believed that Shahbaz Sharif was also in danger. Nawaz Sharif has been disqualified now, but the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) request has been rejected by the court. It is important to mention here that the court has rejected the NAB claims in fourth hearing only.

“The Hudaibiya case had been haunting the Sharif family for the past 17 years; however, after the surfacing of the Panama Leaks case, the Hudaibiya case also came at front. It was widely believed that the members of Sharif family who were saved from the Panama case will be stuck in the Hudaibiya case now. The court, yesterday, rejected the application to review the Lahore High Court’s 2014 verdict. However, the PTI is claiming that the apex court had rejected the application due to the weak prosecution of the court.”  

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif clearly said, “Today, the truth has won.” He looked happy with the court’s verdict. Shahzeb Khanzada began the conversation by asking: “Shahbaz Sharif sir, you had tweeted that you got vindicated and the truth had clearly won. It was clear that the opposition thought that the Hudaibiya case would prove to be more detrimental for the PML-N. Today is a big day. A big decision has been announced. But today, two more decisions have been announced. In your opinion, what victory is the biggest one in terms of truth and equality? The one that is in Imran Khan’s favour, the one that is against Jahangir Tareen, or the decision that came in favour of your family?

Answering the questions, Shahbaz said: “First of all, we all are praying before Allah that the Hudaibiya verdict is finally announced and it is in our favour. This is not only my vindication but it is also the vindication of many other members of my family, including my son, my niece, Mian Nawaz Sharif, my late brother Abbas Sharif. This is a vindication for all of us. I believe that the truth has finally come in front of everyone. The people who are against us and were eagerly waiting for a decision against us in the Hudaibiya case will be quite disappointed today because they have failed. This is a kind of decision that has reinforced our belief in justice.”

“I want to add something here. The Ittefaq Foundries was destroyed by nationalisation during late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s tenure, then in late Benazir Bhutto’s period and later an engineered default was highlighted. The point that I want to make here is that these governments—with full effort and enthusiasm—have closed it through an engineered default, which is definitely man-made. It clearly means that we were not involved in it. All loans worth $5.75 billion were duly cleared. God forbid, this factory was not opened in India or Israel. This factory was also opened by my late father in Lahore. Thousands of people got employed in it. Production capacity of the country was increased. Revenues were generated. Then late Benazir Bhutto came in power. The factory was destroyed by her and was followed by Pervez Musharraf in his tenure. It was completely destroyed and then closed. All loans were paid. Even if my late father had to face losses due to Ittefaq Foundries, the loans were paid. We never got compensation from any government or our own government to pay these loans. Finally, the apex court has given a verdict regarding this case. We all must thank Allah and move forward now.”

In response, Shahzeb Khanzada added: “Let’s talk about Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen’s situation now. You talked a lot about Jahangir Tareen in your speeches. The PML-N also had an opinion about Imran Khan. Do you also consider the verdict in favour of Imran and the verdict against Jahangir victories of truth and equality?”

Replying to Khanzada, the Punjab CM said: “Now listen to me. I have also said with full force that Imran Khan, who is always raising his so-called voice against corruption and uses the kind of language that no one would like to repeat or utter, has corrupt people around him. One of them has been identified by the Supreme Court today. He was also charged for telling lies and giving misstatements by the Supreme Court. Jahangir Tareen, even when we had not talked of getting the loans written off, got loans written off from poor nation’s wealth in the banks; orphans, widows or depositors’ loans got written off and then Tareen bought aircraft from that amount.”

Khanzada asked: “But the decision is not announced on this issue. The court has not given verdict on this topic. The court has given verdict against not declaring an offshore company. The things that you mentioned were not necessarily the part of this verdict?”

Shahbaz Sharif responded: “No, no. What were the assets of that offshore company? Was that offshore company working or selling dates? The offshore company had billions in its assets.” “He bought flats from that amount. And he has declared his money in this regard,” Shahzeb said.

“The offshore company had billions in its total wealth. If they were not declared, then who did the wealth belong to? This only belonged to him,” the Punjab CM asserted. “So you are implying that Imran Khan’s clearance is also a correct decision,” Shahzeb inquired.

Shahbaz, in response, said: "This is Supreme Court’s decision. You can see the Panama Leaks case and see this case. They both have striking similarities. I cannot say more than this. There is no need to go ahead. Imran Khan kept gaining benefits from Jahangir Tareen’s resources. Meanwhile, he kept talking against corruption. Khan Sahib kept milking the resources of Tareen for all this time, including sitting in his aircraft and helicopters, availing his hospitality. On the other hand, he kept trumpeting against corruption. He has also kept corrupt people all around him. There is another one who is the master of forcefully occupying lands—his Lahore’s president. If you pick up NICL, his name will be on the top. He has occupied innumerable lands, costing billions, in Lahore. FIRs have been lodged against him. I know now Imran Khan will ask that if FIRs were lodged, then why we have not taken any action as of now. Then it comes under political victimisation. If NAB has these cases, then NAB should pick these cases. They have occupied lands worth billions of rupees. The NICL case’s proof is in black and white—which adds that he had occupied that land. This is Imran Khan Sahib’s character. You talk about and take names of looters and dacoits. However, he has himself made looters and dacoits sit in his home. So much so that he is also taking advantage of their resources. Then how he can raise fingers on others.”

In response, Khanzada inquired: “Today, the court announced its verdict against Jahangir Tareen. In your opinion, the Hudaibiya case is a victory of truth and equality. Then the decision that came against Tareen is also correct. Keeping this in mind, there is one such personality who was disqualified by the same court and he is in your home. Everyone is also taking advantage of his vote bank. The decision against Nawaz Sharif was also a victory of truth and equality? If you think that the court’s verdict is the victory of truth, then it would be the same in Nawaz Sharif’s case?”

Shahbaz added: “I had made it clear that the Panama case and Imran Khan case had striking similarities. There is a possibility of review petition in this regard. This is a legal matter and there is problem in that. There is a legal process attached to it. Everyone has a right to present viewpoints through lawyers.”

Khanzada, as a result, asked: “You said that there is a striking similarity between both cases. So you think what would be the best equivalent to describe this similarity: the way in which Imran Khan is cleared, Nawaz should also have been cleared or the way in which Nawaz Sharif was disqualified, Imran should also have been disqualified.”

Shahbaz answered, “I will not condemn the court’s decision. Please, do not take me towards this issue.” “You can do that and you have the legal right to do so. You can condemn the court’s verdict,” Shahzeb said.

Shahbaz replied, “I am saying that both cases have a similarity and there is a slight degree of possibility for filing review petition.” “Why are you not condemning the decision?” asked Shahzeb, adding that “your brother openly criticises the court verdict, but why you are being so restrained.”

The Punjab CM said, “In this issue, you are going to waste your time and mine as well. I am not going to fall in this trap.” “Does you elder brother waste his time by commenting on these issues?” asked Khanzada, adding that he just wanted to know related viewpoints. The CM responded that he was just talking about the loopholes; and it was our legal and constitutional right to highlight the loopholes and filed a review petition.

Shahzeb Khanzada further probed: “Your next election campaign is to kick off now. You may perhaps be the next prime minister. So will your next election campaign be based on the Hudaibiya verdict’s victory of truth and equality or Nawaz Sharif’s stance on injustice against him? What will be the campaign based on?"

Shahbaz Sharif said: “Khan Sahib knows what the campaign will be based on. He kept saying it for four years that these metro buses and trains are a waste of money and billions of rupees are being wasted. He used to say that he would never make such projects in KPK even if the federal government would pay him to do so. He said that he would spend this money on education, health; and he promised the nation to do so. However, after four years and three months, he has taken a loan from the Asian Development Bank to kick off metro bus project and has also proudly made an announcement regarding it. Let those clips play now. He becomes a master of playing clips. You play all these clips all the time. Play those clips now to show how this person has wasted the time of the people of KPK for the past four years and three months. He has cheated them.”

“We spent money on public transport to help common people, the needful, students, teachers, nurses reach their desired destinations in a dignified, reliable and an honourable form of transportation. I think he has realised the significance of public transport after four years and three months. Imran Khan is a person who wasted the time of entire country.”

You have asked that what the election campaign plan would be. I am telling you by quoting Khan that after 2013 elections he said that the PTI govt will not only create surplus energy in KP but also in entire Pakistan. Now it’s 2017. KPK has potential to create thousands of megawatts of electricity, and not even a single kilowatt has been produced so far.”

Shahzeb, in response, asked: “Shahbaz Sahib, believe me we have done programmes after programmes regarding the metro buses and electricity issues. We have also shown all the related clips in our show. However, you are saying that your entire campaign would be based on this thing, which means that Nawaz Sharif’s statement of victimhood will be ignored in the campaign? You are even restraining yourself to talk on this issue.”

The Punjab CM said: “He is a liar. He is wasting the time of this nation. He has become the master of ‘dharnas’. He has also become the master of lockouts. The visit of Chinese president got delayed by seven months for which he was not ready to get up from Islamabad. Had he arrived in Islamabad seven months earlier—as planned before—the contracts and agreements would have been signed beforehand. The time that has been lost would have been saved.”

Shahzeb Khanzada inquired: “I am going to insist on my question. Whatever you have said just sums up that politics cannot be done by staying in past, which means that your party will not run election campaign on the basis of Nawaz Sharif’s statement. You, instead, want to run the campaign by focussing on the development projects and the outcomes that you have delivered. Simply, you will not support Nawaz Sharif’s stance?”

In return, Shahbaz Sharif said: “It is a combination. Why will we not focus on the development factor? Is it not true that the energy projects have been materialised and loadshedding has ended due to Nawaz Sharif’s able leadership? The energy that we have today is due to Nawaz Sharif. The darkness in Pakistan has been put aside by continuous endeavours of Nawaz Sharif and you cannot take away this credit from Nawaz.”

“But you are not saying even two words regarding the verdict that has been given by the court against Nawaz Sharif,” Shahzeb said. Shahbaz said: “Please let me complete. Power loadshedding has ended. All the projects are being completed in full speed with transparency. Only Nawaz Sharif should be given credit for this. There are no two options in this case.”

“But you have not uttered even two words against the verdict given against him. What is the reason?” the Geo TV programme anchor asked. “If this is not a statement then what it is,” the Punjab CM concluded.