Opposition staging ‘drama’ to get NRO: Murad

Communications Minister Murad Saeed criticised the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Thursday, terming its anti-government campaign a “drama” to get relief for its leaders from the corruption cases.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said the opposition leaders were on the roads after they failed to get an NRO, a reference to former president Pervez Musharraf-era political amnesty through the now-defunct National Reconciliation Ordinance in 2007.

“The opposition parties in the name of the PDM, are staging a drama in the country. They are on the roads after failing to get an NRO, which they had sought from the government in writing,” the minister told reporters.

He said that the opposition had sought NRO during the legislation related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). He added the opposition had demanded the inclusion of amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws in the Senate session agenda to get relief from the corruption cases.

On the one hand, they were making noise of rigging and on the other they want an NRO to escape accountability for their corruption,” he said. “Even some opposition members are astonished as to why they should campaign for an NRO for Nawaz Sharif, a proclaimed offender sitting in London,” he added.

He added that issues important for the opposition were not important for the people, therefore, they had rejected the PDM’s drama. “The credit goes to the nation, which has defeated such people in the general election,” he added.

EU DisinfoLab expose

At the press conference, the minister also said that the recent EU DisinfoLab report was a bombshell expose about India’s involvement in carrying out fake propaganda campaigns to destabilise Pakistan for the last 15 years.

The Brussels-based non-government organisation, in its report, uncovered fake network of some 10 NGOs present in 116 countries, using fake identities, which were involved in malicious and disinformation campaigns against Pakistan.

“Indian media outlets and social media were used for propaganda against Pakistan. Anti-Pakistan demonstrations were organised by those organisations, which were attended by foreign nationals instead of Pakistanis as evident from their facial features,” the minister said.

He said India had made all-out efforts to put Pakistan into the FATF blacklist but failed in its nefarious designs. The Pakistanis, he added, might have different political views and ideologies, but they were united to defend Pakistan’s ideology irrespective of political affiliations.

The minister said Indian occupation forces were committing gross human right violations in the Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. However, when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was in power, its leader Nawaz Sharif covered up Indian abuses to save his own business interests in India.

The minister mentioned that in the past India was spreading terrorism in the world but Pakistan was blamed. “With the arrival of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan has become known as for terrorism but for tourism, he said, adding: “Imran Khan has become ambassador of the Kashmiris.”