Sheikh Mujib’s endorsement: Hazara-based leaders calls for K-P CM’s trial for treason

Say Pervaiz Khattak’s comments prove he is loyal to the cause of India and Bangladesh

ABBOTABAD: Political leaders based in the Hazara region called for initiating a treason case against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak who allegedly endorsed Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s views in a public meeting a day earlier.

Aurangzeb Khan Nalotha, the parliamentary leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the K-P Assembly, called Khattak’s statement a clear violation of the Constitution and said it ‘proved’ the K-P chief minister was not loyal to the cause of Pakistan.  “Saying Pakistani politicians looted Bengalis and clearly endorsing Mujib amounts to sedition,” he said while demanding legal action against Khattak.

Former MPA and current naib amir of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Mufti Kifayatullah said the K-P chief minister’s comments proved the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership was loyal to India’s cause. “Mukti Bahini led by Mujib dismembered Pakistan in 1971. The way Khattak endorsed his statement is solid evidence that he has violated the Constitution of Pakistan, which he is sworn to uphold,” he said.

The JUI-F leader added that the timing of Khattak’s statement “suggests it is a deliberate move to convey some message to India.”

“Khattak, after his comments which clearly support India and Bangladesh, does not deserve to be chief minister. He should resign and the government must try him under article 6,” Kifayatullah said.

The chief of Tehreek Suba Hazara Party, Baba Haider Zaman, also expressed similar views, saying that Khattak, by calling Mujib right, showed he supports the India-backed Mukti Bahini. Labelling him ‘anti-state’, Zaman too called for trying the K-P chief minister for treason.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2016.