Minister decries ‘fake news’ about First Lady

Asks ‘certain quarters’ to refrain from deploying ‘cheap tactics’

ISLAMABAD:

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib on Monday denounced "certain quarters" for churning out "fake stories" about First Lady Bushra Bibi, asking them to refrain from deploying “cheap tactics and dragging an apolitical woman into political thicket”.

Speaking to the media after a meeting of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the minister decried the “baseless stories” about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife, saying such attacks were bereft of any factual or moral ground.

Although Habib did not call out any particular publication, his comments came a week after a publication reported that the first lady was currently living at a friend's place in Lahore due to differences with PM Imran Khan, prompting a Twitter trend about the premier’s marital life.

The sources said during the CEC meeting, the prime minister also took great exception to the social media trend revolving around the story and expressed his displeasure over personal attacks. “Unbridled freedom should be discouraged. This cannot be tolerated,” the premier was quoted as saying.

Read PM Imran refutes ‘pathetic’ smear campaign targeting first lady

In his interaction with the media after the meeting, Habib asserted the first lady has no connection to politics at all and recalled that "these are the same people who had once indulged in the character assassination of the late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto”.

‘No-trust poses no threat’

Referring to the opposition’s attempts to bring a no-confidence motion against the government, the minister of state said the “last resting place of all thieves is not the government but jail”, adding that the no-trust motion posed no threat to the ruling party.

He said the statement of Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi about recent political meetings had increased the ‘nervousness’ of the opposition parties, particularly Shehbaz Sharif.

Habib said the accused of the Ramzan Sugar Mills case would be charge-sheeted on February 18 on depositing the plundered Rs16 billion in employees’ accounts.