By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: Leader of the House in Senate, Shahzad Waseem on Thursday has accused opposition parties of peddling Indian narrative.
In his policy statement in the Senate, Shahzad Waseem said that narrative that started from Gujranwala, violated the sanctity of Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum in Karachi and slogans of Free Balochistan were raised in Quetta.
He said that the people of the country have rejected the anti-state narrative of the opposition parties from the platform of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). “Opposition should clarify that whose narrative it is safeguarding”. The leader of the house in the Senate made it clear pride of the country comes first then the government.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Monday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had slammed PDM, an alliance of political opposition parties for targeting armed forces and other national institutions.
“Pakistan Democratic Movement is damaging Pakistan by making national institutions controversial. They [opposition parties] should be ashamed of themselves for peddling Indian narrative regarding Balochistan in yesterday’s Quetta rally,” said Qureshi. He had further said the present government will not come under any pressure of opposition.
On Wednesday during NA session Mr. Ayaz Sadiq has claimed that Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told a meeting of Pakistan’s top leaders that India would attack Pakistan.
Mr. Sadiq, who was the Speaker of the National Assembly during the PML-N government, made a similar statement earlier on October 28 in Parliament that Foreign Minister Qureshi in an important meeting pleaded that let Wing Commander Varthaman go back because India is attacking Pakistan.
The 37-year-old IAF pilot was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27, 2019 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during aerial combat. Before his jet was hit, Wing Commander Varthaman downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan. He was released on the night of March 1.
In a speech in the National Assembly, Mr. Sadiq said that Mr. Khan skipped the high-level meeting, which was attended by top leadership, including Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Mr. Qureshi.
Mr. Sadiq said that he tries not to make any personal attacks but “when those in power refer to us as thieves or “Modi ka yaar” (Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pal), we will have to respond. He also said that those running the government were not serious people.
“The rulers don’t even know the rules of Parliament,” he said. Mr. Sadiq said that the Opposition has supported the Imran Khan govt on every issue, including Kashmir and Wing Commander Varthaman.
