Earlier this week, the Federal Minister For Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhary tweeted that Prime Minister Imran Khan had expressed his displeasure over the registration of a coup case against former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. Chaudhry said that the Prime Minister had no knowledge of the FIR registered against Nawaz Sharif and other opposition leaders.
“When I brought to the Prime Minister’s notice that such an FIR has been registered against Nawaz Sharif and other people, he expressed strong displeasure”, Chaudhry claimed. “The prime minister was not aware when I brought into his notice that an FIR has been registered in Lahore in which Nawaz Sharif and others have been nominated,” he continued in a series of tweets. “Imran Khan expressed strong displeasure. Let’s see what happens,” Chaudhry added.
“Filing treason cases is not our [PTI government’s] policy. These were the tactics used during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure,” he tweeted. The science minister further added that the PTI was a political party and that it was yet to make its move. “We still have ‘moves’ to play on the political chessboard. The PML-N should save its pawns because the king and the queen cannot be dragged into the game too soon,” he wrote in another tweet. “The game has just begun.”
An FIR had been registered against Nawaz for “provocative speeches”
As per the network to tweets, earlier during the day, an FIR was registered against former PM Nawaz on a criminal conspiracy for the “provocative speeches” he made in London to “defame Pakistan’s institutions”. This FIR alleges that Sharif, in his speeches, supported the policies of India, and claimed that he wanted to give the impression that Pakistan will be listed in the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list in its upcoming meeting. “The FIR registered against Nawaz on October 1 was lodged by a citizen in the Shahdara Police Station’s jurisdiction. The case was registered under the provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code for criminal conspiracy against the PMLN supremo and other leaders” they added.
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Dawn reports that the case was registered by a citizen, Badar Rasheed, under Section 10 (cyberterrorism) of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (2016), and sections 120-A (definition of criminal conspiracy), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against Pakistan), 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty), 124-A (sedition) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
In a further tweet by the former minister (of Information and Broadcasting) Chaudhry confirmed that “People have been nominated. They have expressed strong displeasure. Maybe someone has seen this happen to take action.”
وزیر اعظم کو اس FIR کا کوئ علم نہیں تھا جب میں ان کے علم میں لایا کہ اس طرح ایک FIR ہوئ ہے جس میں نواز شریف اور دیگر لوگوں کو نامزد کیا گیا ہے انھوں نے شدید ناپسندیدگی کا ااظہار کیا ، ہو سکتا ہے کسی نے کاروائ ڈالنے کیلئے ایسا کیا ہو دیکھتے ہیں۔ https://t.co/uZYnwX2FCR
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) October 5, 2020
In yet another tweet, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said, “It is not our policy to prosecute coup cases. These are the words of the Nawaz Sharif era. The PTI is a political party. Yes, the game of Noon League pawnbroker Shah and Wazir is still far away, the game has just started”.
بغاوت کے مقدمے بنانا ہماری پالیسی نہیں ہے، یہ نواز شریف کے دور کی باتیں ہیں، تحریک انصاف سیاسی جماعت ہے سیاست کی شطرنج پر ابھی ہماری چال باقی ہے، نون لیگ پیادے بچائے شاہ اور وزیر کا کھیل ابھی دور ہے، ابھی کھیل شروع ہوا ہے جلدی کیا ہے۔
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) October 5, 2020
It is pertinent to mention here that a case of mutiny has been registered against former Prime Minister Sharif and other PML-N leaders at Shahdara police station in Lahore.
Former Spokesman of Punjab Chief Minister, Dr. Gill’s take on the matter
Separately, the prime minister’s political aide also said that the sedition FIR was registered by a citizen and that the government had nothing to do with it. However, he added that the FIR does not include “treason charges”. Sharing a copy of the FIR on his Twitter handle, Gill pointed out that “the FIR has been registered on charges of sedition – and sedition, according to Wikipedia, means “inciting people against the state institutions”.
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“Our government does not favor registration of treason cases against politicians. This is something the PML-N used to do during its era and we opposed it all along,” Gill wrote in a series of tweets.
ہماری حکومت سیاسی لوگوں پر غداری کے مقدمے بنانے کہ حق میں نہیں ہے۔ یہ کام ن لیگ کیا کرتی تھی اور ہم اس پر اعتراض کرتے تھے۔
اس ایف آئی آر میں غداری کی کوئی دفعہ شامل نہیں ہے۔ اس میں sedition کی دفعات شامل ہیں۔ جو غداری کا جرم نہیں۔sedition کی definition لف کر رہا ہوں۔ pic.twitter.com/PpazV9gn5L
— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) October 5, 2020
Gill added that the FIR should solely be investigated on merit. “Several people nominated in the FIR did not support Sharif’s anti-state narrative”, he claimed. “We know the political compulsions of such people. Why should we brand them traitors?” he asked.
GVS News Desk