Strategy for banned outfits finalised

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Wednesday said a three-pronged strategy has been finalised with regard to dealing with the proscribed organisations.

He told media persons here that the banned outfits would be disarmed, those who were associated with them, would be given loans and employment on dissociating with them and they would undergo political and national mainstreaming. On the question of the military courts, the minister explained that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was having consultations with parliamentary leaders of various parties on this matter.

About PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s offer of treatment of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Sindh, the minister contended that it was a joke and such joke should not be cut, as Nawaz was a heart patient.

He welcomed Bilawal’s announcement of ‘jail bharo movement’ and said that the way Zardari was running the Sindh government, it appeared all of them would go to jail. “The jail authorities say that one barrack would be enough for them,” he remarked.

The minister asserted that the government had grabbed the opposition by carrying out their accountability for corruption of billions. He clarified that no one was under the influence of the government with regard to the on-going process of accountability.

Coming hard on Nawaz and Zardari, he alleged their interests were inter-linked. Referring to war-mongering by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said Modi was doing the politics of fascism by dividing the Indians.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, he claimed, had done away with linguistic politics in Karachi and from Khyber to Karachi, there was only one political party and it was PTI.

The minister noted that the PTI government had completed seven-eight months and had there been the previous government, during this period, Rs7-8 billion had been transferred out of Pakistan. He added that even the national kitty was worried that none had come forward for loot and plunder.

In reply to a question, he believed the talks on Afghanistan were progressing well and hopefully a stable multi-party government would be installed in Kabul.