ISLAMABAD: With political pressure over the Karachi operation mounting, the federal government has repeatedly stressed that it has nothing to do with the law-enforcement action against political parties.

Following the arrest of PPP leader and Zardari confidant Dr Asim Hussain, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid had categorically stated in a press conference on Aug 31, “The PPP leadership has either misunderstood or been given misleading information that the action against the PPP leaders was carried out at the behest of the PML-N.”

Also read: I should have been informed about Dr Asim's arrest: Qaim Ali Shah

But he had stopped short of offering the beleaguered PPP any hope, saying that while the federal government had nothing to do with the Rangers, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal investigation Agency (FIA) action against them, “I believe that the independent judiciary will do justice to the PPP leaders,” he said.

However, a top NAB official now insists that the bureau has not received any new cases against Dr Hussain from Sindh Rangers.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that Rangers and NAB were separate entities and so far, the former had not sought any assistance from the bureau.

“We will definitely conduct a probe if they send any cases to us,” the official said.

The NAB official’s statement seems to confirm an impression that the entire investigation against Dr Hussain was being conducted by the Rangers and that other civilian agencies such as National Account­ability Bureau and Federal investigation Agency were not in the loop.

The official went on to say that the bureau was not investigating any cases against Dr Hussain and that his name was excluded even from a case related to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on the basis of the investigation officer’s report.

But even though the NAB official claimed that his organisation had nothing to do with the arrest or the investigation into Dr Asim Hussain, the PPP leader has filed a petition before the Sindh High Court, naming National Accountability Bureau, FIA and both the federal and Sindh governments as respondents.

In his presser on Aug 31, the information minister had said that the PM ordered an inquiry to ascertain the reasons for Dr Hussain’s arrest.

But PPP Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar told Dawn that the party had asked the government many times about the outcome of the inquiry, but no response was forthcoming. “We asked the government to tell us who is conducting the inquiry and what are its terms of reference, but we have so far not received any reply,” the PPP leader said.

Reiterating the statement taken by PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira at a press conference held recently in Dubai, Mr Babar said, “We cannot point fingers if he was arrested on corruption charges alone, but it is unfair to accuse him of terror financing,” he said.

Mr Kaira had said that if the accusation that Dr Hussain supplied weapons to the MQM was to be substantiated, the MQM would first have to be declared a terrorist organisation.

“The fight against terrorism will be gravely undermined if politicians are hauled away under terror laws and while terrorists roam free and are allowed to resurrect themselves as charity organisations,” Mr Babar said.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2015

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