Azma Bokhari challenges Salik to prove corruption claims

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has challenged Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain to either present evidence supporting his corruption allegations against Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz or apologise for making what she described as baseless accusations.

Reacting to Chaudhry Salik’s recent remarks, Azma Bokhari said he was a federal minister and part of the government, adding that making allegations without providing evidence was unbecoming of someone holding public office.

She urged Salik to respond to the notice issued by the Punjab chief minister and substantiate his claims with concrete evidence. She said he could not continue making allegations without proof while enjoying the privileges of being part of the government.

Azma Bokhari also accused the federal minister of changing his position over his alleged recommendation for the appointment of the deputy commissioner of Gujrat.

She said Salik had admitted a day earlier that he had recommended the appointment but was now taking a different position. She criticised what she described as his contradictory statements and said he could not avoid accountability by changing his stance.

The provincial information minister further claimed that Salik’s own brother had rejected his allegations, adding that the federal minister would now have to answer for making what she called false accusations.

She maintained that repeatedly changing his position would not help him escape responsibility and insisted that he should either provide evidence or apologise.

Defending the Punjab government’s performance, Azma Bokhari said Maryam Nawaz had launched and completed development projects worth trillions of rupees during her two years in office.

She claimed that even the government’s critics had failed to establish allegations of corruption involving even a single rupee against the chief minister.

Azma Bokhari also pointed out that Chaudhry Salik had himself acknowledged that he did not possess evidence to support his corruption-related claims.

Her remarks came amid an escalating exchange between Punjab’s provincial leadership and the federal minister over allegations of corruption in the province. The controversy intensified after Maryam Nawaz issued a legal notice to Chaudhry Salik over his remarks.