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Ephedrine case: Non-bailable arrest warrant issued for Shahabuddin
Same warrant also issued against son of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Makhdoom Shahabuddin. PHOTO: REUTERS
RAWALPINDI: Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) Magistrate Shafqatullah Khan on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant for the arrest of Pakistan Peoples Party’s candidate for the prime minister’s post, Makhdoom Shahabuddin for his involvement in the ephedrine case, Express News reported.
The same warrant was also issued for the arrest of the son of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Member of National Assembly (MNA), Ali Musa Gilani. The court ordered for the accused to be arrested and presented in court within a week.
During the hearing at the magistrate’s court, ANF Commander Brigadier Faheem and Investigating Officer (IO) Abid Zulfiqar presented a report stating they had evidence and witness testimonies proving the direct involvement of former health minister Shahabuddin and Member of National Assembly (MNA) Ali Musa Gilani in providing illegal quota of banned chemicals to a laboratory in Multan.
Forwarding a request to be an immunity-granted witness, former director general (DG) Health Dr Rasheed Jumma verified in his statement to the investigation team that it was Shahabuddin who approved the 2,500kg ephedrine quota allotment to Berlex Lab International and 6,500kg to Danas Pharma.
He added that Ali Musa Gilani pressed for the allotment of the quota as well.
The magistrate approved the request of Brig Faheem and IO Abid and issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against the two accused.
Read more:
ephedrinecase
Reader Comments (112)
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well timed, courts doing excellent job of dismantling democratic process. After all these courts are like state assemblies from where state affairs are run
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Here we go. We might have Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as the next PM.
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:d
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Thank you!
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Congratulations Pakistan.
I smell a revolution here…
PTI supporter.
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A criminal Again …Good choice PPP !!
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So this guy is supposed to be our next prime minister.. awesome!! I guess only criminals are celebrated and given respect in our sorry country.
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PPP does not have a clean man?
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Check Mate!
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Why today? if he is going to be the PM then there is no likelihood that he wont appear before court. While previously he was not issued such warrants when the probability of not co-operating was proportionately high. Our judiciary is serving whose interests?
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Yesssssssssssssss!! Now we are talking. Put them behind bars.
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What a coincidence – as soon as the PPP file his nomination, there is a warrant for him. And then some have the guts to say the matters are not political.
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Congrats Mr. Shahabuddin now you are confirmed PM! God Bless Pakistan.
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What about issuing arrest warrants for the covering candidate, Mr. Raja Parvez Ashraf? He was also involved in fleecing the national exchequer w.r.t to the Rental Power Projects.
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Time to come out enough of this and saving democracy this is sham. Lets have fresh election
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This biased attitude of establishment has always strengthened my faith in PPP!
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yet another martyr of PPP’s Democracy.
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Welcome Mr. PM !!!!
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Sack the president. His ability to make decisions is in serious doubt. Or as people of Pakistan we have lost the ability to offer important position to persons who are not tainted in any way.
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Birds of a feather, flogged together.
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Slap after Slap.
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what a irony of fate for PPP.
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MashAllah! MashAllah! People committ crime out of blind Power and Authority, whereas here we already have a symbol of “Excellence” in Shahabuddin Sahib who is wanted before he becomes PM. Now lets see who files petition against this first PTI or ML-N? And readers mark my words The “Apex” Court will leave aside all other matters and instantly pounce on this to be the next “Matter of Great National Pride”and even quicker shall come the verdict and then we’ll go for the next PM…..Hahahahahaha what a mockery Pakistan is, ML-N blows the whistle, Courts instantly provide ‘relief’ and thus prove The Great Azad Adliya”Recommend
Pakistan People’s Party does not have one single clean candidate for PM. I wonder what kind of political party they are. Why the relevant authorities ban them after they gave Pakistan so much shame in ephedrine case.
Perhaphs Pakistani’s want to go to their graves and pray for their birthday’s even after their death . What a nation.
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Things are gonna get pretty interesting now !!
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Niceeeeee…
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Another makhdoom being converted into mazloom…………….. his involvement in the ephiderine case was well known fact, but this might have proved to be his biggest merit for zardari for his PMship nomination. PPP is direly in need of mazlooms and shaheeds. Time is running out on them.
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Checkmate.
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Excellent.
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He sure has some credentials to become Crimeminister of Pakistan
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OHHH !!!! So now we know why Makhdoom Shahabuddin was eligible for the post of PM …. Due to his gr8 acheivements in corruption in the Past , best choice our gr8 President who have chosen the best one :)
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Well, one can only laugh about it!!! Nominated PM is also corrupt!! Well done PPP
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Yet another martyr of PPP’s democracy. who is next? Raja Pervez Ashraf.
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Job well dobe ANF
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In Egypt the constitutional court has sent packing the newly elected parliament. Here in Pakistan the so called independent judiciary has sent PM home and the next PM has been been the next target. The process has been initiated just within hours of Makhdom Shahab’s nomination.
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Ha-ha-ha…. gr8 !!
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Lol thats even worse than getting runout without facing a ball !! haha
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lol, now PPP wil say that they were cornered by the judiciary and gain sympathy votes from the rural areas in the next elections. Well played zardari, well played!
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Hahahahah…… ANF Zindabad
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Why don’t the sheep like people of Pakistan permanently dissolve the parliament and make the CJ the king and supreme ruler of Pakistan. No need for democracy in this country.
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The timings are spot on…
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If this man gets elected as PM he will start claiming immunity. Please arrest him before it is late. You know where he is? President house. All criminals party.
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Why issue arrest warrant today? Evil forces again at work to destabilize democracy! Very sad situation since we have learned nothing from our past mistakes.
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so…Raja Parvez Ashraf be new PM? mercy God!
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Will he be arrested in actual? or this is just another fuss…
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These judges need to be judged.
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It really amused me so much, oh what a good sense of humour u have.@Umair:
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Seems that Mr. Shabuddin has the correct qualifications for becoming the next PM.
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He is capable of becoming the PM of Pakistan, have same rich background of corruption, nepotism etc like his predecessor.
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God save us from this democracy !
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With any candidate PPP nominates, they are going to be hit with a charge. This means on Friday evening, no candidate from PPP, and we might end up electing Maulana Diesel as our next PM.
LOL!Recommend
@Avatar:
I prefer drugdealers to army or CJ.
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The only action required for this Juditiory headed by a dictator C J is what PML N chief had done with CJ Sajjad Ali Shah.
THey deserve that treatment.
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great work supreme court. justice for all.
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@Logic Europe:
This is a very uninformed comment! Please think before you comment. But in your case, please think and then decide not to comment!
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Appears Pakistani Judiciary & politicians will not rest till Pakistan raises up to #1 in the list…
…of failed states.
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Pakistan heads towards becoming Yugoslavia thanks to our awesome azaad adliya.
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There’s never a dull moment in our political theatre!
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Ironical and hilarious! I was laughing my head off on this news. Nice start Sir. You are really a “worthy candidate” from PPP. Carry on!
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Welldone !!
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@Logic Europe:
Democracy doesnot mean that corrupt can go scot free 03 cheers for the CJ!!!!!
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The supreme court had wanted him arrested since June 7th as there was substantial evidence against him. Even then PPP nominated him. So, the pertinent question is why? I think one can easily arrive at answer.
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Really what good timing yet again by the courts!!! You do know we are in the middle of a power crisis. Ofcourse the best thing to do then is to chuck out successive PMs, make sure the governement has absolutely no hope of providing any relief to the poor. If you wanted to chuck out the PM you should have been clear beforehand. Because of the timing, no one can believe the courts are taking on suo moto cases for the greater good!
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@Aliya:
And this equally applies to a man sitting at the peak of justice.
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There is not even a single clean person in PPP. This party is full of corrupt people.
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@Gul Metlo:
Do we have any court here, we can call constitutional – I mean free of PCO.
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The timing of the arrest warrant is quite significant.Maybe the judiciary and the establishment are working in tandem to weaken and then dismantle the democratic system.
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As expected from a person who spent a decade in prison. what else do u expect?Recommend
@Ram Shukla:
The leader of the PPP was known as Mr 10% and still became president, so his team members need to be much more than 10% to hold any government posts in Pakistan. Is it any wonder if their past is now catching up with them?
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CJ will not summon Hanif Abbasi because he is in PMLN.
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@Avatar:
Well said sarcastically. The hard reality is that Pakistani democracy is a cover and open licence for crimes done by politicians and their chaps; certainly not for the masses who vote for them…
Just do an honest study of the progress done in last four years by this democracy…
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@Logic Europe:
Court is doing damn well reminding the ruling class the laws are not just for poor.
PPP is pressuring the democratic process. Can they find no clean figurehead? Surely, theremust be atleast 1.
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CLARIFICATION: SC or CJ had nothing to do with this. This warrant was issued by Anti-Narcotics court.
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@Logic Europe: What Rubbish? Should they stop running the cases only because the accused has been nominated to be the Prime-minister(?)
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The former health minister and one of the candidates for the premiership has option to go to superior court for relief and in the meantime withdraw his candidacy from the race.Since his
“Health” became tainted while a health minister in the case of drug case,he will not have due respect from others.
PPP ,if you don’t have a Mr Clean,give an add in the newspapers and you will have so many
of them.
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PPP is going wrong in decision making on every issue, of late and making the people to lose their hopes in democracy.
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Its outrageous……
And which other party has more clean people than PPP? Do the PML(N) supporters forget Mehran gate? and what to talk of PTI…which is filled to the top by the deserters from Musharaf and NS….
Itni na barha paki-e-daman ki hakayat
Daman ko zara daikh zara band-e-qaba daikh
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@Khan of Cape Town:
O My God ………………….. don’t say this
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Highly political judiciary
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The logic skills of people commenting pro ppp are hopeless. My dear friends its not the CJ who issued the warrants but the ANF and the investigation has been in the process for some time now. So please next time think before you post lest you show everyone why you keep electing these corrupt people again and again
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PPP needs to shuffle its rotten eggs carefully before putting them into the ring!!!
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The non-bailable warrant was issued by the Anti-Narcotics Court pursuant to charges filed by the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF). Importantly the boss of the ANF is appointed by the GHQ and currently happens to be Major General Malik Zafar Iqbal (who was previously commanding an infantry division at Lahore).
While in theory the ANF (just like the ISI) is meant to report to the civilian government, as is the norm, in reality he answers to his Army superiors.
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@Logic Europe:
So handcuffing the big crocodiles is dismantling democratic process? Only the poor can be arrested and that wont dismantle the process? Excellent job SC.
This is called JUSTICE for all!
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Current score:
Judiciary (Military?) 2 – Civilian government 0
You guys never stop amusing the entire world with your games.
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our ex. Prime Minister was convicted for contempt of court and our expected prime minister is accused of drugs quota. amazing
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The warrants have been issued by the ANF not the Supreme Court. If the timing is not a coincidence then the ANF should explain this not the SC .
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No reason to sound concerned – what CJ is doing some public leader should have done it long back. Bunch of thugs should be punished for their deeds!!
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Very intresting situation. No body is talking of IFTIKHAR (and Riaz).
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@Bookie:
which revolution in the history of mankind came by electoral box ?
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Bring back musharraf.
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Every morning I wake up and am entertained with a new drama.
Thank You.
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@Logic Europe:
I don’t think so. Unfortunately our “democratic government” seemed to be full of criminals and, not only that, they are being nominated for the executive posts. Should we pack the courts up and let our “democratic criminals” do whatever?
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Well done SC and well done ANF squad. I guess this is the best way to bring all of these filthy politicians to justice.. The next best thing for PPP after the Gilani’s is this man who is involved in a scam as well. The criteria for PPP to elect a PM is that the person should be the most corrupt in all those corrupts and the one who is leading will be the president . Very well justified. What could have been expected from these herd of black sheeps. I would love to see all of these going behind the bars and get nagged for what they have been doing with the nation in all of those toughest four years Pakistan have ever faced. Recommend
The reason Shahabuddin sahab was nominated is because he is from Southern Punjab. PPP will cash out the issue of dominance of Takht-e-Lahore and Siraiki province. The saking of two Prime ministers from Southern Punjab by judiciary (for not writing a letter) will give them all the required sympathy in next elections.
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From where did he come from in the first place?
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@R. Khan:
Oh you are also one of the lovers of pakistani democracy. The democracy, san mercy!
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For all those who have automatically come to the conclusion that he is a criminal, please consider the following facts:
– He is the person that actually opened an inquiry on this issue and spoke about it in parliament in Feb 2011.
– The person that has issued a non-bailable warrnt is an army man
– Some ephedrine WAS imported when he was health minister but according to him, it was on instructions from Gilani’s secretary who in turn was claims he got direction from Moosa Gilani. in any event there was no evidence that he had benefitted in any shape way or form from the import.
Secondly non-bailable warrant for ephedrine import where he himself opened an inquiry. But non non-bailable warrant for Malik Ishaq despite his public pronouncements and actions of murdering Shias. No non-bailable warrant (what to talk of conviction) for people who are responsible for ‘missing person in Balochistan’ though there is video footage available that judges have seen where government institutions are causing forced disappearances.
Justice may be independent in Pakistan but is it unbiased?
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Nothing New. This is revenge of democracy. I love PPP they are the best in running the country.and PML N is nothing less. Recommend
@waqas: “As expected from a person who spent a decade in prison. what else do u expect?”
He has never been convicted. Those jail stay are a reflection on vindictiveness in Pakistani politics towards political opponents. There is a long history: Zia’s actions to Zulfiqar Bhutto, Musharraf’s actions to Nawaz and Benazir and lately the fact that Musharraf is unable to return to the country because executive decisions (right or wrong) have been given the mask of criminal decisions.
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Fruits of “azad adaliya” now flowing down to ANF Magistrate.
No more complains about corruption at level judiciary.
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Pathetic scenario…What type of a message is the PPPP and it’s coalition partners sending out to the world.That we do not have a single person,whose record is clean and is eligible to lead our country?…Shameful,please spare us some image before the world,Recommend
@ayesh_khan
whose side are we? Pakistan or the crooks.
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There is a chronic honesty-deficiency in the rank and file of the PPP. What an irony of fate – on one makhdoom shahbuddin’s nomination paper for prime minister were being filed and on the other a court was issuing non-bailable warrant of the nominated PM. Raja Parvez Ashraf is the next choice but he is also facing charges in connection with the rental power deal.The present set-up of the peoples party has produced nothing but a class of corrupt leadership at all levels. May God Almighty save Pakistan from this dishonest and corrupt creed of PPP.
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Another clumsy attempt by the judiciary and the army to sabotage democracy in Pakistan!
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Some idiots believe that corrupt people believe in democracy.
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Why the warrants are issued now and not before his nomination? Our system should prosecute criminals as soon as a person is found guilty rather than waiting for the “right time”; this shows prejudice and intentional delay in delivering justice.
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Looks like a clean man has no or would not survive in the PPP. It seems that a person needs to have smart and tons of corruption under his portfolio for him to be posed as the candidate for PM by PPP. SHAME on these nincompoops, surely Pakistan’s political class is too illiterate to have democracy!
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@R. Khan:
dear jhamroot is slavery of yahoodi.
So jhamroot is evil,Recommend
@Adnan – Whatever is happening in the political field of pakistan during the current PPP regime, it is not democracy but a mockery of politics. To give protection to a corrupt person and his ill-gotten money stashed in swiss banks is the only ‘sacred mission’ of the ppp ‘jayalas’. How poor army has figured in all this poor scenario? However, if this sorry state of affairs continue unabated, the army who is the last hope in such a situation will have to step in. The people of pakistan will have choice to select the corruption-riddled democracy or the true saviours of pakistan.
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For all those talking about judiciary is sabotaging ‘democracy’, please explain to me what kind of democracy is this? Democracy is government of people..PPP’s govt is not for people, it is for themselves only! Forget about anything else, he’s involved in a criminal activity therefore he should not be able to run for any position in any govt office.. Plain and simple!
Our country is in this position because we accept these people as our leaders, People that are corrupt and convicts.
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Well done ANF. All civilian institutions should show the same gutd and nab these crooks
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All bad histrionics is going on!
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