ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday issued a formal clarification on the floor of the National Assembly regarding a list of lawmakers allegedly issued by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) who were allegedly investigated for links to terrorist organisations.
The premier pointed out that the IB had already stated that the list was, in fact, ‘fake’, adding that PM House had never sought such an investigation as claimed in the letter. “It was a fake document propagated with the intent to malign individuals,” Abbasi maintained. “Events like these harm the sanctity of the parliament.”
The prime minister also stated that he had directed the IB to proceed with a legal case against whoever authored the ‘fake’ letter while also directing the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to take action against the broadcaster responsible for airing it in line with the applicable laws.
Abbasi said that an FIR has also been registered and “investigations are underway to identify the culprit who propagated the fake news item”.
The list had first come to light when a private television channel aired a report claiming that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had directed the IB on July 10 to keep watch on 37 listed legislators, most of whom belonged to the PML-N, for alleged links to terrorist organisations.
The decision to issue the clarification was taken in a party meeting chaired by the prime minister earlier in the day. The PML-N lawmakers affected by the list had raised the issue in the meeting.
Published in Daily Times, October 10th 2017.
