Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah on Friday said that cases related to the Madina incident should not be registered in Pakistan suggesting that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah rethink the issue seriously.
Talking to media in Sukkur, he said the government was not interested in taking revenge, and was instead focusing only on economic stability.
Referring to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan’s planned long march, he said, “If any person wants to bring thousands of the people to Islamabad, let him do it. We will not create any hurdle in his way.” He said that Imran himself was imported and had been prepared for Pakistan.
Talking about the fragile state of economy, Khurshid Shah feared that prices of petroleum products would go up, while the dollar would reach Rs200. He said Imran Khan in his three year-rule had taken loans worth Rs22 trillion. “We are concentrating on economic stability to transfer relief to the people of Pakistan.”
He advised the people to shun political intolerance; especially the kind brought about by Imran Khan. “The politics of the country is no longer the same as it was 60 or 70 years ago. We have forgotten that we do not want war. We want change…and not the change that Imran Khan was bringing. We want to save the economy from further destruction.”
He said that if the incident took place in Madina then there should be a case in Madina, not in Pakistan, “because we understand politics and we understand that the answer to bullets in politics is not bullets but negotiations”. He said the incumbent government wanted the PTI to have their say in decision making, as they did while in the opposition.
“If we take action like Imran Khan then there would be loss. If anyone harms the public or private property then the state should take action.”
Cases should not have been lodged against members of PTI and action should only be taken against the people who had taken the law into their hands in Pakistan, he said. Shah added that if somebody had shown disrespect to the sacred place, then only Allah and His Prophet (PBUH) would punish him for that.
Talking to people at different places during Eid days, Shah said, “We do not believe in political victimization. We believe in democratic norms and will never object to Imran Khan’s democratic right to protest.”
“The government should be careful while issuing statements about PTI’s long march. It should take decisions with consensus as we are their partners in the coalition government,” he said. He said the present coalition might get stronger by contesting local bodies as well as general elections together.
The PPP leader said that when the establishment supported PTI, it was good, and when it declared itself apolitical it suddenly became bad.
About the National Accountability Bureau, Shah said that the bureau should exist but its law should be amended. “We should make necessary constitutional amendments and electoral reforms immediately so that we can move to the general elections,” he said.
