F.P. Report
LAHORE: PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Saturday said that former prime minister Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence should be raided to recover the “missing” copy of a diplomatic cypher that carries the details of the purported “foreign conspiracy” against his now fallen government.
Addressing the matter in a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, Maryam said: “You heard that the cypher went missing from Prime Minister House. I think there should be a raid on Bani Gala from where you will know where the cypher copy went and what the real minutes, letter and communique were.”
Maryam said Imran had the “letter” to wave it in rallies but “does not have it to show it to the people”. “You played with the country while playing your games,” she added.
Maryam lashed out at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former PM Imran Khan for playing with the country’s national interest by twisting routine diplomatic cypher for his political motives. She said that Imran Khan conspired with his aides to twist a routine cypher for his political gains knowing well this would harm the country’s national interest.
“Imran Khan conspired against Pakistan while sitting at Prime Minister House just for his selfish political gains,” said Maryam Nawaz and added that a raid should be carried out at Bani Gala residence to recover the missing cipher.
Regarding the audio leaks of the incumbent government, Maryam went on to say that PML-N will never compromise on the security of Pakistan and audio leaks are proof that none of the party leaders heard speaking against the country.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar alleged that former principal secretary Azam Khan has admitted to having handed over the cypher copy to Imran. Dar said it was now “established” through the audio leaks that the former opposition — now the government — was not responsible for any conspiracy, but rather the PTI was. “We will be failing in national duty and oath if we don’t take appropriate action,” he added.
The finance minister said the matter was not something which could be ignored, adding that “whoever did this is not pardonable”. “We will be betraying the Constitution if we don’t take it to the logical conclusion. So the decision is we will take the matter forward in light of the law and Constitution.” The finance minister also lambasted the PTI government for its economic performance and attributed the country’s present woes to its decision, saying that it would take time for him to fix things.
Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while reacting to another alleged audio leak purportedly featuring party leaders Asad Umar and Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussing the much-touted “threat cipher” with Imran Khan and the ex-principal secretary, said that there has been a serious security breach in Pakistan on the issue of cipher, adding that there is no excuse for what was done on the cipher issue.
Ishaq said Imran Khan took the support of cipher and created his own story, but Imran’s plan came out from audio leaks, adding that he did the violation of official secret act. His [Imran Khan] agenda is to destroy Pakistan, adding that he had destroyed it economically and put the country on the verge of bankruptcy, Dar took a jibe on the PTI supremo.
“Now it has been proved that the conspiracy was done by PTI and not by the government because the evidence is in front of us. If we do not act on this serious matter, then it means we will fail in our constitutional responsibility,” Dar said. The Finance Minister added that there has been a serious security breach in Pakistan on the cipher issue and there is no excuse for what was done on this issue.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the issue would be raised in parliament and expressed the hope that the body would decide to file an Article 6 reference against Imran.
