Shah hits back at Nisar in emergency press conference

SUKKUR: Responding to the federal interior minister’s statements the Leader of the Opposition, Syed Khursheed Shah held a press conference in Sukkur highlighting his party’s position and past achievements while also pointing out some of the failures of the present government.

He told journalists on Thursday that he did not do any point-scoring and only said what was right. “It appears as if it has become the government’s habit to level baseless allegations against others,” he added.

Without naming Chaudhry Nisar, he challenged him to prove what benefit he might have derived from the so-called point-scoring and he will leave the politics.

“How could an ailment come in the way of condemning the attack (on Charsadda University),” he wondered, adding he (Chaudhry Nisar) could have invited PTV for a minute and condemned the attack.

Shah said he keeps telling Nawaz Sharif that those close to him are deceiving him – using the urdu idiom asteen main saanp chupay hain (snakes are hiding in his sleeves).

When a journalist asked Shah if he was referring to the Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Shah responded that the nation understands whom he is referring to.

He said that every time the government was stuck in a crisis, for the sake of democracy the PPP supported the government and in doing so journalists and the common man labeled the PPP as a friendly opposition.

Shah said that he kept on saying that times have changed and leaving behind the politics of the past and kept playing a role in light of the party’s new philosophy of conducting politics of reconciliation, even when many complained that while the PPP was in power the PMLN did not let any chance go to criticize the PPP.

Repsonding to the allegations of ‘point scoring’ made earlier by Chaudhry Nisar, Shah declared that if anyone can point out one instance in which he, his family or friends benefited from an action he will leave politics.

He added that if the PPP were to resort to blackmailing, it would have done so when Imran Khan was standing on top of the container challenging the legitimacy of the government, when the MQM had resigned from the assemblies.

Shah recalled how when the PPP came into power people had said the Taliban were just behind the mountains surrounding the capital, that they can attack at any moment. The PPP government stood side by side with the armed forces and launched the operation against the terrorists.

He compared how the PPP government rehabilitated the internally displaced people following the Swat operation within three months but the sitting government has been unable to rehabilitate the IDPs of FATA even after two years; he demanded how they could point fingers at his party.

He said when the Osama bin Laden incident happened, a judicial commission was made, when lawyers were killed in Karachi, a judicial commission was made, even when Sabeen Mehmood was killed. He remarked that he never said that the government was behind these attacks, adding that a government can never be involved in the killing of innocents.

Shah said that he will respond to the personal attacks in the national assembly and if he is not heard he will then approach the courts.

“It seems as if only one person knows how effectively the National Action Plan (NAP) has been implemented while the entire media, intellectuals and parliamentarians are ignorant,” he said.

He said whatever this one person says only reflects a mental sickness.

Earlier in the day the Federal Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan addressed a press conference and declared that those criticizing the National Action Plan (NAP) were only doing so for point-scoring.

Without naming the party, the interior minister criticized the PPP stating that the elders, the youngsters and even the women are only criticizing him. Adding that their grievance was with another quarter but since they failed in settling their score now they are venting against him.

Nisar had claimed that those criticizing NAP had never even read it.