Ishaq Dar’s controversial interview: Nation demands swift action

Pakistan’s former finance minister, Ishaq Dar and a close aide of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who currently lives in self-imposed exile in London, said on Tuesday that corruption allegations were frequently used as a pretext for political persecution in Pakistan, saying he had all the facts to disprove accusations of financial irregularities against him.

Appearing on BBC’s distinguished program HARD talk, the former finance minister said he was living in London due to medical grounds and could not return to Pakistan because he was still suffering.

Dar was declared an absconder in late 2017. He has been absconding from court proceedings since 2017 following the registration of reference against him. Later, NAB confiscated his various bank accounts worth Rs500 million and his house.

Dar rejects allegations of corruption

After Dar denied allegations of corruption against him and boasted of a clean tax record, the programme host Stephen Sackur asked him point-blank how many properties he and his family-owned.

Dar claimed that he owns only one property in Pakistan and that too, has been seized by the government. The ex-finance minister said that he possesses the only residence in Pakistan which has been taken over by the PTI government.

The PML-N leader said he believes in transparency and has declared all his assets in his statements. When the anchor stated that news reports state that he and his family members own properties in Dubai and London, Dar replied negative.

He claimed that the accusations were not true and his children were independent businessmen, hence their properties or assets have nothing to do with him.

Allegation of human rights violation in Pakistan

Sadly, when asked whether he would return to Pakistan, Dar said where are the human rights in Pakistan, what’s happening in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody where dozens of people have been virtually killed. There are human rights abuses, he said.

When the anchor confronted Dar saying that Pakistan’s accountability watchdog had scrutinized his accounts and found them not in order, Dar said that was not the case.

He said a joint investigation team was set-up and it had two military officers among others, they were actually overseeing the entire affair, alleging that the NAB lost its significance some time ago. Dar said it’s an institution that is used for political revenge.

Nawaz’s struggle

The former finance minister also lashed out at the incumbent government, saying that the Imran Khan-led government is a judicial martial law. He added Nawaz Sharif is struggling for democracy and supremacy of the parliament in Pakistan.

Dar said he does not accuse the army, as an institution, of undermining the democratic process in Pakistan, but it is the will and plan of some people, the same people who enforce martial law in Pakistan.

When asked if the army or the army chief were undermining democracy, Ishaq commented that the PML-N is not alone and international reports also have said the same. Dar said PML-N is saying that if the elections were rigged, and this has now been proven, without doubt, someone is planning the entire thing.

PTI leaders ask Dar to face corruption charges

In response to Dar’s allegations, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shehzad Akbar has said that if former finance minister Ishaq Dar could not answer the questions of anchor, how would he face the courts?

Shehzad Akbar termed Dar ‘fugitive’ and said if Ishaq Dar had come to Pakistan, how would he have answered the questions of the courts. Akbar said Ishaq Dar owns six acres of land in Islamabad and moreover, he owns three plots in Al-Falah Housing Society.

The special assistant informed that Ishaq Dar has eight vehicles, several companies in partnerships.  He said that people were amused to see Dar’s interview. Information about him came to light in JIT but he is not responding to the charged sheet imposed on him.

Meanwhile,  PM’s aide on Political Communication, Shahbaz Gill sought to “refresh” people’s memory as he cited a news report in which revelations by the PML-N leader’s son  — Ali Dar — were in complete contrast to the claim. Gill said Ali Dar had confirmed that he had bought 52 villas in the UAE, citing a report published on December 30, 2017.

Gill said that Dar had termed the premier a fascist a label that the country’s “enemies” are trying to impose on Pakistan. However, they have failed.

He said Dar in the interview was unable to answer how PM Imran Khan is a fascist and the interviewer informed him that the incumbent prime minister was working with China, just like earlier leaders.

Nation demands swift action

All citizens have the right to criticize others but they should not directly accuse the country of a human rights violation by sitting abroad.

The government should take rapid action and give severe punishments to those who want to defame the country and maligning the institutions of the country only to save their own corruption.

Several Pakistani on different social media websites demanded swift action against Ishaq Dar for peddling the Indian narrative regarding human rights violations in Pakistan.