Asghar Khan case verdict: Governor Khosa takes a swipe at PML-N

The Express Tribune

If the Asghar Khan case is pursued to its logical end, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership will vanish from politics, claims Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa. Addressing a ceremony at Chand Rai village near Chongi Amar Sidhu on Sunday, Khosa said that the distributers and recipients of cash handouts have committed treason. He was referring to the then-ISI and army chiefs and the politicians who formed the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) at their behest in the run-up to the 1990 general elections. Khosa added that those who “usurped the rights of the people” should be tried for treason under Article 6 of the Constitution. In a veiled reference to the PML-N chief, Khosa alleged that some politicians were groomed during [Gen Ziaul Haq] martial law and rose to power through undemocratic means. “Such politicians have been unmasked – they are not interested in the democratic process,” he alleged. In an indirect criticism of the judiciary, Khosa said while the apex court decided cases involving the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) it should also ensure a speedy trial of the case against Shahbaz Sharif who “took over the province unconstitutionally, four years back”. Khosa urged the Supreme Court to decide the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) so that “character assassination of the creator of the country’s Constitution” could be stopped once and for all. For the PPP, politics is like a religious obligation (ibaadat),” Khosa said. “It is a party of martyrs like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto.” Later, Governor Khosa also visited the residence of late advocate Shakir Ali Rizvi to offer condolences to his family. Rizvi was shot dead by unidentified gunmen last week in Lahore.