PESHAWAR: Former provincial minister and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Sitara Ayaz here on Wednesday rejected the corruptions charges, levelled against her by some government figures, saying the attempt was aimed at tarnishing her image.

Addressing a press conference at Peshawar Press Club, she said that the corruptions charges against her, appeared in media a few days ago, were totally baseless.

She said that she was being harassed for her political association.

Says corruption charges aimed at tarnishing her image

Ms Ayaz said that her family was also being tortured mentally for her political affiliation. She said that reports about alleged corruption in social welfare department from 2008-13 were deliberately leaked to a section of press to malign her by some vested interests and damage her political position.

Ms Ayas said that as a minister she had transferred a woman from Peshawar to Nowshera after which she started receiving threatening telephone calls and letters purportedly from Taliban to pressurise her.

“I had approached police after receiving threats and registered a case against unidentified persons. During the investigations the link of the woman was established with the telephone calls,” the former minister for social welfare said. She added that the said women approached Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Peshawar High Court (PHC) against her, however, her pleas were rejected each time.

Ms Ayaz said that a relative of that woman was part of Ehtesab Commission, which was investigating charges against social welfare department. She asked the official to distance himself from the investigations.

She said that she was being subjected to political victimisation and some of her relatives in the provincial assembly were also involved in it.

“Some of my relatives in the provincial assembly are pulling the strings in the whole episode,” she added.

The former minister denied illegal appointments in the department and said that she was considering moving court against the people, who wanted to malign her. 

She said that social welfare department had launched several big projects when she was minister.

“Now some of these projects have been shut down by the incumbent government,” she said and added she was first woman minister in the history of the province.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2015

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