PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui, a close aide to party supremo Nawaz Sharif, has in his “personal capacity” opposed Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s recent remarks where he said he would move a resolution to summon former army chief Gen (rtd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, ex-spymaster Lt Gen (rtd) Faiz Hameed in the National Assembly.
Asif made his plan known earlier this week during an appearance on a Dawn News TV show. The defence minister was ruing terrorist attacks in Pakistan when he held Gen Bajwa, Gen Hameed and former prime minister Imran Khan responsible, alleging that it was during their tenure that thousands of TTP fighters were resettled in the country who are now launching attacks on the state.
He had also accused the two retired generals of conspiring to overturn Sharif’s government in 2018, which he claimed was the reason why the country’s economy was in poor financial state.
However, Senator Siddiqui, himself a PML-N leader, appeared to disagree with Asif’s approach on the matter, saying that summoning the two former generals would be akin to reopening of “old offices”, especially at a time when the country is already beset with a number of pressing problems.
In an interview on Dawn News TV show Doosra Rukh that aired on Friday, the Senator said that the Parliament must move ahead and work on resolving the myriad of issues Pakistan is currently entangled in.
“Parliament has a lot of work to do, such as ensuring constitutional and electoral reforms,” Siddiqui said.
He added that probing Asif’s allegations would leave politicians, generals, journalists and other figures “stuck in a quagmire”, pointing out that the issue of accountability is as old as Pakistan itself and putting resources towards probing such allegations would not be prudent.
Senator Siddiqui also praised the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn the dismissal of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, saying he was glad that the former Islamabad High Court judge’s dismissal was overturned.
Justice Siddiqui was removed from his position as the IHC’s senior puisne judge in October 2018 over a speech at the Rawalpindi Bar Association earlier that year.
In his speech, he had alleged that members of the establishment apparatus had been manipulating judicial proceedings.
Furthermore, Siddiqui clarified that Sharif may travel abroad for a family get-together but has no intention of moving out of Pakistan permanently.