Islamabad: A prominent religious-political leader has called for the dropping of a probe on the May 2 US Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad. The panel appointed to investigate is yet to be operational.
Maulana Fazlur Rahman, head of the Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) party, said at a news conference that the plan was not in the interests of the nation.
"If the commission finds the military in the wrong, it will be Pakistan that will suffer and not the military leadership," said Rahman, whose party withdrew from the ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples Party several months ago.
The commission, headed by Justice Javed Iqbal of the Supreme Court, was set up by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in accordance with a resolution unanimously adopted by the parliament on May 14 after an in-camera session on the Abbottabad incident.
Article continues below
The main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had pressed for an independent commission. The parliamentary resolution called for the formation of the panel following consultations with the opposition leader in the National Assembly.
The PML-N said the prime minister appointed the commission without holding the required consultations. As a row ensued, one member showed his unwillingness to take up the assignment while Justice Iqbal said he would only head the panel after the approval of his nomination by Chief Justice Iftikahr Chaudhry.
Sharif has strongly criticised the delay in starting investigations on the Abbottabad incident, as recommended by parliament.
He accused Gilani of procrastination on the matter — a charge denied by the government.
Perceptual biases
A military statement issued last week, after a corps commanders conference chaired by army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, criticised what it called "perceptual biases" against the armed forces.
The statement said the campaign against the army would be seen as an attempt to "drive a wedge" between the military organs of the state and the nation. The observations were seen as being directed at criticism emanating from opposition politicians, prominent journalists, human rights activists and civil society figures in the aftermath of the Abbotabad raid and the subsequent attack by militants on a naval airbase in Karachi.
The PML-N chief, in a statement following the corps commanders conference, said if the army did not want to be criticised, it would have to eliminate the causes of such criticism. He said there was no "sacred cow" in the country and said no one should try to become one.
Earlier: napaki.tumblr.com
Twitter handle: @napaki
Read the original article by clicking on the respective post titles
