LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday accused the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) interrogators of harassing him.
Speaking during a hearing at a session court in Lahore, Shehbaz Sharif said that the Agency officials used vulgar language during their interrogation of him. “And when they crossed their limits, I stood up and asked them as to why they were doing all this,” he added.
Shehbaz alleged that the FIA officials would laugh loudly and make fun of him.
The PML-N president claimed that when he was the chief minister of Punjab, he served widows and other people belonging to lower segments of the society. “I opposed members of my family and provided sugar to the people at cheaper rates,” he said, and added, “Prior to my coming to power, there were prolonged power outages; people’s businesses and industries had been shut.”
He said when he became the chief minister in 2013, he, in collaboration with China, installed cheaper electricity generating plants.
He regretted that after NAB, the government had assigned FIA the task to go after him.
Meanwhile, in a statement on Saturday Shehbaz Sharif said that massive increase in the prices of items of essential use was condemnable.
“The price hike witnessed during the last financial year was nothing less than a total catastrophe for the poor people,” he said, and added that compared to June 2020, 15.37 percent increase was witnessed in the prices of essential commodities in June 2021. “Actually, this is an indictment against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government’s ‘incompetence and insensitivity’,” he commented.
Shehbaz said no doubt the present government’s policies were aimed at increasing poverty and reversing what he claimed the gains made when PML-N was in power.
PML-N president said that while on one hand, the government introduced tax amnesty schemes for those associated with the stock and property businesses gleefully; on the other it crushed the poor people through inflation. “What else can be termed the biggest economic failure of a government which does not have the ability to control inflation?” he wondered.Alongside, he added, there was massive unemployment in the country. “But the government instead of addressing the problem, is acting like a silent spectator,” Shehbaz said, and added it was unfortunate that the government instead of giving relief to the poor, gave concession to the rich people on the import of luxurious cars.
On the other hand, session court extended the bail granted to PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz till August 2.
Meanwhile, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has denied allegations of harassment levelled by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif against the agency.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the FIA said they did not harass Mr Shehbaz Sharif rather he had not given replies seriously to their questions.
“We brought him inside the FIA with much respect and offered him coffee or tea,” the FIA said. The Agency said harassment or misbehaviour was out of the question. Shehbaz Sharif did even not give one correct response to their questions, it added.
