Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister, has been booked on treason charges, reported ARY News. As per details, some senior leaders of the former ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), have also been booked on the same charges. The case was registered at the ‘PS Shahdara’ on the complaint of a local citizen, Badar Rasheed. Political analysts and legal experts were expecting the development after Nawaz’s controversial speech during the All Parties Conference (APC) held on September 20.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders have been booked on treason charges
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According to the details, vice-President PMLN, Maryam Nawaz, former prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Former federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Pervez Rasheed, Khawaja and Rana Sanaullah were also named in the case.
Elder Sharif and other PML-N leaders are deliberately defaming the state institutions and carrying out hate speeches, the FIR read”, added the news channel. The FIR stated that Nawaz had conspired against Pakistan’s prestigious institutions by making provocative speeches while being in London. The purpose of those speeches was to declare Pakistan a ‘state of hooligans’, the FIR claimed.
In another case, PML-N’s Punjab Assembly member, Imran Khalid Butt, has also been named. The case was registered at the Gujranwala Police Station, Satellite Town, reported The Express Tribune. According to the FIR, the PML-N leaders have used ‘provocative and threatening words’ against the state institutions during a party meeting held at the residence of Imran Butt on Friday.
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Captain (retired) Safdar Awan, a senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and son-in-law of Nawaz Sharif, was also booked on treason charges over his anti-state speeches on Sunday. “The case was registered at the Satellite Town Police Station Gujranwala over the complaint of SHO. Safdar Awan in his press conference on Saturday had criticized state institutions” confirmed ARY News.
Nawaz Sharif has crossed the red line, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan
ARY News further reported that the Punjab Information Minister, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan has demanded the trial of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif under treason charges on account of having revealed national secrets.
“Elder Sharif revealed national secrets by openly talking on the cruise missiles issue”, Chohan said in his statement. He questioned how a three-time prime minister can even reveal national secrets – the same person who took an oath to safeguard them. Chohan further accused the Sharif family of having only their own personal interests as their priority, all the while failing to honor their duty to the state and its people.
He complained that Sharif has crossed the red line in his “hatred against state institutions”, further claiming that the former prime minister is “targeting every state institution but the masses have turned down his narrative.”
ARY news added that in his plea, Badar Rasheed had stated that Sharif has been convicted by Pakistani courts and has resorted to conducting speeches against the country’s institutions in and from London. Talking to the media in London just last Wednesday, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif had claimed that Pakistan had built its missiles by copying American missiles through reverse engineering and that he had given cruise missiles to the country. Sharif had said, “The United States had fired missiles at Afghanistan during the war which landed in Balochistan. We made our missiles by copying the US missiles.”
The news channel additionally disclosed that Chohan urged the authorities to take action against Sharif and other PML-N leaders under the Pakistan Prevention of Electronic Crime Act. A report on the implementation of Sharif’s arrest warrants in London has been submitted in Islamabad High Court (IHC) today.
Nawaz’s controversial statements
Nawaz has made several ‘controversial’ and ‘objectionable’ statements during as political career. On July 12, 2018, Nawaz Sharif made some ‘irresponsible’ and ‘controversial’ remarks on Mumbai attacks. In an exclusive interview to daily Dawn’s Cyril Almeida that appeared on 12th May, Sharif blamed Pakistan for ‘allowing’ terrorists to kill 150 people in Mumbai. “Militant organizations are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why can’t we complete the trial?” an angry Nawaz asserted.
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Later on, the Indian lawyer, who was leading the high-profile case of Indian Navy commander Kulbhushan Jadhav at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), used ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s statement in his defence.
PML-N: A new MQM in making?
There is a growing perception on Pakistani social media that Nawaz is the new Altaf Hussain – MQM-L’s chief who controlled Karachi and spread violence while staying in London, with an ambition to control Pakistan while sitting in the UK.
Some people are comparing the case of Nawaz Sharif with that of Altaf Hussain. Both Nawaz and Altaf are controlling Pakistan politics from London, and there are several other similarities between the two, according to reports.
Altaf Hussain, a leader of MQM-London, who is now not allowed to appear on TV screens, is not allowed to carry out political activities in Pakistan due to a series of anti-Pakistan comments he had made a few years ago.
Altaf Hussain, in a video message posted on MQM-L’s official social media platforms on 23rd March 2017, requested Indian help to regain control of Karachi, the business capital of Pakistan.
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Some experts fear that Nawaz may assume the role of Altaf Hussain and encourage his followers to come in the streets to topple the present government. Inside sources told GVS that the party is planning to organize protests against the government in the coming months.