Bail doesn’t mean innocence, Firdous Ashiq Awan tells Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD: The Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, asked PML-N's Rana Sanaullah not to stigmatise the judicial system, reminding him that he had been granted bail which doesn’t mean that he has been proven innocent.

Talking to media persons here on Saturday, she emphasised that the process of accountability should be without discrimination and it should appear to be so. “You have been granted bail which does not mean you have been given clean chit,” she told Rana Sanaullah and added the case will continue to be heard in the courts. Referring to Rana Sanaullah, she said that it was improper to use the Holy Quran for personal projection and added that the prime minister was striving for not two, but one Pakistan. “We know that the powerful take advantage of the weaknesses in the prosecution and the legal system. The government will do away with them,” she emphasised. Dr Firdous advised the PML-N leader not to ventilate his anger at the people or the government and instead hold the party leadership accountable. She was hopeful that the PML-N spokespersons would soon let know the nation about the health of Nawaz Sharif. The special assistant said that a decision on Nawaz Sharif’s fresh application would be made in accordance with the law, adding that his platelets had stabilised after reaching London. She added that those sharing news about his health have now become ignorant about Nawaz Sharif’s well-being.

Dr Firdous reiterated that Prime Minister Imran Khan will reform the rotten and out-dated system and added that the system of reward and punishment was essential for a society without which a society would be ruined. “Accountability is vital to the nation and the country and without it only the law of jungle prevails,” she remarked. The government, she noted, was moving in the right direction for reforming the institutions and the system and asked Rana Sanaullah that it was the same system, which protected the powerful but “our struggle against this system would continue”.

The special assistant said that overseas Pakistanis wanted to see Pakistan as an economically developed country, but political acrobats try to impede the forward moving Pakistan on the economic front. Reacting to a news report, she said in a tweet that the government economic team was carrying out its responsibilities with harmony, adding the economy was heading towards stability. Dr Awan said the whole economic team enjoys complete confidence and support of Prime Minister Imran Khan. She made it clear that any speculation in this regard would die down soon. She said the economic team would achieve economic stability.

Speaking at a function, Dr Awan said that the government was making all out efforts to attract tourists and investors from around the world and noted that provision of conducive environment to businessmen and protection of their investment is the vision of the incumbent government. A lot of job opportunities, she believed, would be created through Naya Pakistan Housing Programme as 40 industries were allied with construction. She expressed the hope that overseas Pakistanis would play a vital role for the economic stability of the country through investment in various sectors.