Remarks about Mushahidullah: Senate chairman asks Fawad to apologise

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Wednesday witnessed noisy protests upon the arrival of Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and taking the floor, as PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan and others demanded of him to apologise for accusing him (Mushahidullah) of giving out-of-turn promotions to his brothers in the PIA.

The minister wanted to speak in the House while Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani said they were informed that he would first apologise for what he said on the floor of the National Assembly. He tendered an apology but not without saying, “why should I apologise. Should not I call a dacoit a dacoit. Already people criticised me why to apologise to those, who had looted the national wealth”.

Talking to journalists, later, he charged that Mushahidullah’s brothers Rashidullah, Sajidullah and Mujahidullah were inducted in PIA and afterwards two of them given promotions and posted at important positions abroad. He alleged the PML-N senator, who could not be elected as councilor, became senator after carrying luggage of Nawaz Sharif and began speaking against the army.

Rumpus started in the House when the minister rose to explain his remarks against PML-N senator, but Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani pressed the minister to wrap up things by extending an apology to the enraged Mushahidullah without going into more details.

After the chair insisted that the minister must tender an apology, the situation aggravated, as the opposition senators demanded that the minister must not say anything else except apologising, which the minister rejected straightaway.

He insisted that he was ready to apologise but he wanted to place some facts before the House first. The opposition lawmakers including of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stood up from their seats when Fawad in his explanation said that he was quite right in his remarks, as Senator Mushahidullah in the last PML-N government got appointed his real brothers against key positions in PIA abroad in New York and London.

The minister also repeated his remarks that had caused quite a stir in the National Assembly and afterwards, the issue got settled over the apology by Fawad there. “A thief must be dubbed a thief, why should I apologise,” shouted the minister while responding to a protesting Mushahidullah, who wanted him not to say a single word against his brothers’ appointment but bury the issue.

The Senate chairman kept pressing the minister to apologise as ‘agreed at his chamber’ in presence of Leader of the House Shibli Faraz. “This House cannot be run in this way. You cannot talk in such a way about the member of this house,” Sanjrani reiterated.

Mushahidullah continued shouting while his microphone was switched off and demanded that the minister should be forced to leave the House. The opposition kept shouting that Fawad be banned at least for one month from the Senate.

Normalcy returned to the House for some time when the chair directed to open the mic of the Leader of the House Shibli Faraz, who said that they wanted that the minister should come and either he should clarify the issue or apologise if needed.

Opposition Leader in the Senate Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq said that the minister should apologise first as directives of the chair was binding on everyone. Initially, Fawad declined and accused the PML-N senator of getting appointed a number of his family members including his three brothers in the national flag carrier. Amid furor, the chair suspended the House proceedings for 15 minutes and asked the minister to come to his chamber.

After the House resumed, Fawad tendered apology, saying, “He did not mean to hurt or attack anyone personally, but some facts must be placed on record in order put the record straight. “My intention was not to hurt someone, if anyone has any issue over my statement, I apologise over my remarks,” he said.

He then again wanted to explain what he called certain facts about PIA and illegal promotions. He added the state institutions were ruined by illegal appointments and alleged Mushahidullah’s brothers were posted at important positions and given promotions without the relevant board’s nod. However, the chair intercepted him to remind that he had apologised and the matter had been settled. But this failed to calm the minister down. Sanjrani then adjourned the House to meet again Friday morning.

Later, talking to media outside the Parliament House, Fawad charged that the Senate chairman had acted with partiality by not allowing him to put facts before the House. “The country can’t be run through chambers. I was asked to visit his chamber,” he maintained.

He called Mushahidullah a stigma on politics and alleged that people like him had defamed politicians and that was why people did not like them. “People have voted us for accountability of the corrupt and not for doing politics of compromises. We shall continue to expose such people and leave it to people to decide,” he asserted.

Fawad accused the PML-N senator of getting inducted his entire family in PIA and said, “I had talked about his two brothers in the National Assembly, whereas now there are six persons, whose names are before us now. Even he got jobs for his female family members in PIA”.

The minister said that he was sending the PIA report to NA and FIA for investigation. He pointed out that the state owned institutions were facing loss of billions of rupees because of mismanagement on part of the previous governments and all these organisations were over staffed.

Fawad said the PIA faced a loss of Rs45 billion in 2017 and its total losses have swollen up to Rs356 billion, the losses of Pakistan Steel Mills are Rs200 billion, Pakistan Television is facing Rs109 billion losses, Radio Pakistan Rs5 billion and total losses of Pakistan Railways are Rs147 billions, he reiterated his earlier statement.

Earlier, the State Minister for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi while responding a call attention notice over the statement made by Prime Minister Imran Khan that Pakistani citizenship would be granted to the refugees living in Pakistan for decades said that the decision in this connection would be made by consulting all stakeholders.

The minister said, “We will hold a thorough debate on the issue, and then a decision would be taken and the incumbent government cannot bypass key stakeholders. The decision would be taken keeping in view national security”.

He said that Pakistan was also a signatory to some international treaties in this connection and they could not make the country a laughing stock at international forums. He also said that no previous government had even taken care of those refugees living in the country in miserable conditions.