Slamming the Centre: Former spymaster says govt tarnishing country’s image

Lt General (retd) Hamid Gul points to over $2b belonging to rulers lying in foreign banks.

PESHAWAR: Former ISI chief and Tehreek Jawanan Pakistan (TJP) Chairman Lt General (retd) Hamid Gul said on Friday that the current government’s policies had tarnished the reputation of the country.

“The rulers are not learning from their mistakes,” Gul asserted during a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club. He said the current government was continuing with the policies of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. He added the country was not threatened by external enemies and it was the government itself that was destabilising it.

Gul said the government of Pakistan refused to pay its debts to the US. “Every Pakistani owes America Rs90,000,” he claimed. The former ISI chief said $2 billion belonging to Pakistani rulers was lying in foreign banks, adding their refusal to invest locally was an insult to industries in the country.

He added that the federal government had failed to control armed groups in the port city of Karachi.

The TJP chief said political parties had armed wings in Karachi and the central government had not taken any action against them. Gul said Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain’s statement urging people to sell their electronics and buy Kalashnikovs remains on record.

TJP’s Central Vice Chairman Abdullah Gul, General Secretary Malik Liaqat Ali Tabassum, Deputy General Secretary Irfan Ashra, K-P President Sadiqur Rehaman, Provincial Vice President Irfan Ali and others were present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2015.