Minister demands inquiry into Nawaz Sharif’s departure

Fawad Hussain says former premier went abroad fraudulently

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain urged the Punjab government to initiate an inquiry into Nawaz Sharif’s departure from the country, saying the former prime minister went abroad fraudulently, inflicting an insult to people and the state.

“Interior Ministry should bring back Sharif as his departure has caused a blow to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s narrative [of accountability],” said Hussain, while addressing a launching ceremony on Sustainable Development Goals Wall at Quaid-e-Azam University on Wednesday.

Hussain noted the opposition — the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — failed to gather support from people as it lacked moral justification.

“The movement of opposition is a failed rescue operation as their agenda is to save leaders from corruption charges which has failed miserably across the country,” said the federal minister, adding no movement can stand without moral justification.

Emphasising the importance of higher education, he said the development of a country could be gauged from its universities as major changes across the world were brought about by varsity students.

Pakistan has over 200 universities. Among them several are as per international standards, while a number of local scholars have contributed extraordinarily in other countries, he added.

He noted two problems at the governance level: lack of funding and lack of planning.

The federal minister urged students to take advantage of the Higher Education Commission programmes for resolving the local issues as universities provided a platform for planning regarding the matter.

Meanwhile, Hussain claimed the Ministry of Science and Technology has transformed myriad of institutions across the country, adding the country would start manufacturing of dialysis machines and X-ray machines in the next four to six months saving $1.6 million from the import of health equipment.