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July 23, 2003
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Wednesday
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Jumadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1424
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Opposition doubts Pirzada’s claim
By Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, July 22: Opposition parties on Tuesday voiced doubts about Senior Adviser Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada’s reported claim that Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah was murdered 36 years ago, some saying he might be trying to divert attention from the controversy over constitutional issues.
Spokesmen for some parties even said an inquiry should be held to find out as to why Mr Pirzada, the prime minister’s senior adviser on foreign affairs and law, had kept quiet about the matter for so long.
Mr Pirzada, who was foreign minister in the cabinet of the then president, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, was quoted in newspaper reports on Tuesday as telling reporters in Islamabad on Monday that Miss Jinnah, sister of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was found assassinated on July 9, 1967 and that he would disclose details of the incident on Aug 14.
“First of all there should be an inquiry against Sharifuddin Pirzada as to why he remained silent for such a long time,” Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal deputy secretary-general Liaqat Baloch said.
“What was the reason to keep the murder of a national personality and sister of the Quaid-i-Azam a secret and why did he not inform the nation about the matter and move the courts?” he asked.
But he said there had “always been a target in Mr Sharifuddin Pirzada’s actions” and the adviser might now be trying to divert people’s attention from the present constitutional crisis over the LFO.
The People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) declined to make a formal comment on the matter but a party official asked: “Isn’t it a crime to hide a murder?”
The spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-N also accused Mr Pirzada of trying to create another controversy to divert the people’s attention from real national issues such as the LFO.
“Being close to various rulers, why he did not try to bring the culprits to book?” PML-N information secretary Siddique-ul- Farooq asked while giving the party’s reaction to Mr Pirzada’s remarks.
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