Faizabad commission report leaked, it should be made public now, suggests Abbasi
Pakistan
Says Punjab government did not stop the TLP rally due to Model Town incident memory
- Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says no evidence of anyone's backing of TLP sit-in
- Faizabad commission shared its findings with apex court a few days ago
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has suggested that the Faizabad commission report should be made public after it was leaked.
Former prime minister Abbasi, while speaking in Dunya News programme 'Dunya Kamran Khan Ke Saath', claimed he had not read the commission's report yet. The commission was formed on the instructions of the Supreme Court and its TORs were also framed by court.
Abbasi said the commission was told to write down the questions and that he (Abbasi) would answer them. "They sent me 24 questions and I replied," he said.
The former prime minister said the ISI was an institution of the federal government. Former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal was also present in the meeting.
"There was no need to approve the agreement. We had given powers to the committee. As per Ahsan Iqbal, the TLP wanted Faiz Hameed to sign the agreement," said the then prime minister.
He further said it was Iqbal's responsibility who was to be included in the committee. "I think Iqbal must have selected Faiz Hameed," he said.
"We had told Iqbal how far we could go and how much flexibility we could show. I probably never met Faiz Hameed as prime minister," Abbasi said.
The former premier said Zahid Hamid was not asked to resign at all. Hamid himself offered to resign and his resignation was accepted.
The former prime minister said they discussed to stop the sit-in in a meeting. The Punjab government did not stop the sit-in and it reached Faizabad. With the infamous Model Town incident in mind, the Punjab government thought it would be appropriate not to stop the TLP rally, he added.
Abbasi said he did not think anyone was behind the TLP sit-in. "We found no evidence in this regard. Pakistan has a long history of such incidents since 1947. A truth commission should be formed to find out what happened in the country," he said.
Faizabad commission report
The three-member commission set up on the orders of the Supreme Court issued its 149-page report a few days ago.
The commission absolved former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general retired Lt Gen Faiz Hameed of the charges.
The commission cited various loopholes in the handling of the issue and drafted recommendations after evaluating the circumstances related to the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan's sit-in at Faizabad.
The report highlighted the role of the Islamabad Police, the Ministry of Interior, the Punjab government, the ISI and the IB, and contained details of matters related to former law minister Zahid Hamid.
