PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq sticks to his guns

Says whatever he said about PTI l govt on October 28 was true

ISLAMABAD:

PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq has once again defended his recent speech in the National Assembly and said whatever he said about the PTI led federal government was true.

“I said what I wanted to say and later also explained my words. Whatever I said about the [PTI] government is true,” Sadiq, who served as the National Assembly speaker from 2013 till 2018, said while talking to reporters in his hometown of Lahore on Tuesday.

Speaking in the lower house of the parliament on October 28 , Sadiq had implied that the PTI government had buckled under fear of an Indian attack and released an Indian pilot – Abhinandan Varthaman – captured during last year’s military standoff between the two neighbours.

The statement had whipped up a storm with the military’s media wing – the Inter-Services Public Relations – formally expressing its displeasure and the government describing it as an attempt to undermine national security.

In a video message, Ayaz Sadiq had later claimed that he had criticized the federal government and not the military in his statement. The PML-N and some other opposition parties including the JUI-F had also come to his defense.

Defending his speech, the former speaker said it was a recent statement of Federal Minister for Science Fawad Chaudhry that was against the national interests rather than his statement.

Referring to a TV interview of the minister, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last week described it as an admission on part of Pakistan of its alleged involvement in the February 2019 attack on Indian occupation forces in Pulwama area of the occupied Kashmir.

“It was Fawad Chaudhry’s statement that was against the national interest. You should speak in a manner that serves you national interest and not in a manner which may be subjected to other interpretations,” Sadiq said.

The former NA speaker said he had defeated Prime Minister Imran Khan in two general elections and that was why the PM held a personal grudge against him.

He condemned the putting up of banners in Lahore showing his pictures along with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “It hurts when someone continually calls you a traitor,” he added.