Ayaz stands by his statement, accuses govt of trying to link it with military

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Ayaz Sadiq has defended his recent statement regarding release of a captured Indian pilot, saying that the PTI-led government’s attempts to link it with Pakistan Army was a disservice to the country.

“Attempts to link my statement with Pakistan Army is a disservice to the country. It can be heard clearly in the statement that I spoke about the government,” said the former National Assembly speaker while addressing a press conference, flanked by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazur Rehman and other PDM politicians in Lahore.

Sadiq in his National Assembly speech earlier this week implied that the PTI government had buckled under fear of an Indian attack and released the Indian pilot captured during last year’s military standoff between the two hostile neighbours.

He claimed that the government had begged the parliamentary leaders to let Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman go.

“With his legs trembling and sweat on the forehead, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said to us, ‘For God’s sake, let him [Abhinandan] go back now or else India would attack at 9pm’,” he claimed. “No attack was imminent; they only wanted to capitulate and send Abhinandan back,” Ayaz had said in his NA speech.

“I stand by my stance. I have numerous state secrets. I would head a Parliamentary committee on national security. I had neither given any irresponsible statements in the past nor would I do [in future],” he said while rejecting the government’s claims that his speech damaged the national interest of the country.

He said the PTI government in line with the Indian media strategy tried to twist his words which he asserted was a conspiracy against the country.

Ayaz urged the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to not drag the armed forces into the political matters, saying political differences aside “but when it’s about the country all political forces are united against India”.