By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Aug 29: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Sunday said that not a single penny contributed by the nation to the National Debt Retirement Programme had been misused and the allegation levelled by Federal Law Minister Babar Awan against Nawaz Sharif was a libel for which he should be tried under articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

It criticised Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain for “talking against feudal mentality, but adopting the same approach in the area under his influence”.

Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, PML-N spokesman Siddiqueul Farooque said the party would raise Awan’s allegation in the parliament so that the nation could see the real picture. He said according to the State Bank’s Annual Report 2001 presented to the then president Pervez Musharraf, the money contributed by the nation to the National Debt Retirement Programme aka ‘Qarz Utaro, Mulk Sunwaro’ was used to retire the national debt. He said the money received by different banks from home and abroad was deposited with the State Bank.

Farooque said if the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif or chief minister Shahbaz Sharif pocketed even a single rupee from the money collected under the National Debt Retirement Programme, military dictator Pervez Musharraf would not have to ‘fabricate’ plane hijacking and helicopter purchase cases to keep the Sharifs behind the bars. The spokesman said on the one hand President Asif Ali Zardari was preaching national reconciliation and on the other he was harming the national reconciliation by encouraging his minions to level ‘shameless’ allegations against “two national leaders of unblemished character and impeccable repute”. He said Awan should have visited the website of the State Bank before levelling allegation against PML-N leaders.

According to the “Domestic and External Debt” mentioned in part 8 of the State Bank report, Qarz Utaro, Mulk Sunwaro Programme was launched on Feb 27, 1997 under which an appeal was made to the entire nation, including overseas Pakistanis, to give donations under three heads: non-refundable donations, Qarz-e-Hasna at least for two years and loan to the government for at least two years on the basis of profit.

Farooque said overseas Pakistanis holding foreign accounts were asked to give donations to the programme and they were offered Zakat exemption to encourage their participation. The details of the money collected under this head are as follows: non-refundable donations $28 million, Qarz-e-Hasna at least for two years $1.6 million and loan to the government at least for two to five years on the basis of profit $148.8 million.

The PML-N spokesman said the money was credited to the central government’s account with the State Bank and used to retire the internal loan of Rs1.7 billion got at an interest rate of 17.3 per cent per annum. “Read and be ashamed,” Farooque gave the message to Awan.

MQM: The PML-N spokesman said Altaf Hussain was diverting the ‘public hatred’ against MQM’s extortionist policies toward feudal lords and capitalists. He saw no difference between mentality of the feudal and that of MQM. He said if feudal lords had private prisons MQM had torture cells, if feudal lords did not allow any dissenting voice in their jurisdiction and evicted the opponents, MQM was doing the same in Karachi and Hyderabad against Pakhtuns and Punjabis.

Farooque said Hussain was abroad for the last 20 years. He said the MQM chief would have been here among the people to share their sorrows and happiness if he had love for Pakistanis. He said British national Hussain should at least return to the country for a couple of months and show solidarity with the flood-hit people by visiting all four provinces instead of showing verbal sympathies with them from his luxurious and well-guarded abode abroad.