Bilawal welcomes, Nawaz rejects military's action on ‘Karachi incident’

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday welcomed the action taken on the findings of a probe carried out on the instructions of the army chief into the ‘Karachi incident’ – the events surrounding the arrest of PML-N leader Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar in the city – while his ally in the opposition alliance, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, “rejected” the inquiry report calling it a “cover-up”.

Addressing a public meeting in Gilgit-Baltistan, the scion of the Bhutto dynasty appreciated that a court of inquiry formed on the orders of Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had completed its probe and action had also been taken.

“I had demanded that the chief of army staff should order an inquiry and take action. I have received good news that the inquiry has been completed and action has also been taken,” he said.

“We should welcome this step. They elevate the stature of institutions,” he added.

Bilawal said if a “mistake had been committed”, the democratic way was to investigate into the matter and take action against those found responsible for it.

“This is just the beginning, this process must continue for the sake of democracy.”

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However, Sharif, who is in London for medical treatment since last year, had a different take on the matter.

The convicted former premier said the findings of the inquiry into the arrest of Safdar, his son-in-law, were an attempt to “scapegoating juniors and shielding the real culprits”.

“Inquiry report on Karachi incident is a cover-up scapegoating juniors & shielding the real culprits. Report ‘Rejected’,” he tweeted from his official handle.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the 11-party opposition alliance of which both the PPP and PML-N are constituents, described the inquiry findings and the action taken by the military as a “success for democratic forces”.

PDM Information Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain welcomed the inquiry report and said those responsible for the incident should be punished as per the law at the earliest.

He added that opposition parties will also hold consultations on the findings.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Army announced the removal of its officials involved in interfering into the affairs of the Sindh police.

"The Court of Inquiry has established that on night 18 / 19 Oct officers from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and ISI sector Headquarters Karachi were considerably seized with the fallout of desecration of Mazar-e-Quaid,” the military’s media wing said in a statement. “They were under increasing public pressure to ensure prompt action as per the law,” it added.

"Assessing the response of police authorities against this developing yet volatile situation to be slow and wanting, in a charged environment, the concerned ISI/Rangers officers decided to act, rather overzealously. They were indeed experienced enough to have acted more prudently and could have avoided creating an unwarranted situation that led to misunderstanding between the two state institutions."

On Sunday, PDM leaders had expressed serious concerns over the delay in the investigation into Safdar’s arrest from his hotel room in Karachi last month.

“Despite the assurance of the army chief that the investigation would be completed in 10 days, there has been no headway even after the passage of three weeks,” JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of the PDM, told reporters after a meeting of the alliance’s leaders.