ISLAMABAD: At a time when the National Assembly was debating the crucial anti-terrorism law on Wedn­esday, Interior Minis­ter Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was sitting in the nearby spacious Punjab House with over 20 legislators.

The meeting between the PML-N legislators and the minister, which took place only a day after Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif spent more than two hours at his Pindi residence, lent credence to speculation that the minister had developed some differences with PML-N leadership over a number of issues.

Examine: Cracks in Nisar’s ties with PM

Although the government functionaries and the party office-bearers deny all reports about a rift between Chaudhry Nisar and the Sharif brothers, they are unable to give any satisfactory reply as to why the interior minister chose to meet his party colleagues instead of attending an important session of the National Assembly.

Talking to a group of reporters after meeting Chaudhry Nisar, ruling party MNAs Tallal Chaudhry and Syed Ashiq Shah claimed that they had come to enquire about the health of the minister.

“There was no hidden agenda of the meeting. The opposition and the media should avoid fact-finding,” said Mr Shah when asked about the purpose of the meeting.

“Nawaz Sharif is the beginning and end of Chaudhry Nisar’s politics,” said Tallal Chaudhry, refuting reports that they had come to pacify the interior minister as he was angry with the party leadership over a number of issues, including the decision to launch a military operation in North Waziristan.

Moreover, he added, even if differences existed between the minister and the Sharif brothers, they as MNAs could not play any role in it since Chaudhry Nisar had a “special position” in the party and had direct access to both the Sharifs.

The MNA had no reply when asked as to why the minister did not come to the Parliament House, preferring to sit in Punjab House.

His reply was that Chaudhry Nisar’s presence was not necessary when a state minister, the law minister and other ministers were present in the National Assembly and the Senate at the time of passage of the Protection of Pakistan Bill.

Meanwhile, sources in the PML-N claimed that the interior minister was unha­ppy over the government’s handling of the case of former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Musharraf.

The sources said besides the Musharraf issue, he was also angry over non-allocation of funds for the internal security policy in the federal budget.

A PML-N member said he had heard that Chaudhry Nisar had assured “someone” that Gen Musharraf would be allowed to leave the country if the courts decided in his favour (on the petition seeking removal of his name from the ECL) and now he was angry over the prime minister’s decision to challenge the Sindh High Court’s decision in favour of Gen Musharraf.

He said the minister was of the opinion that the government should focus all its energies on matters of governance instead of creating problems for itself by pushing the treason case against the former dictator as he believed that present political crisis being created through Tahirul Qadri-like people was because of this policy.

On the other hand, an official spokesman for the government and Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid refuted reports about a rift between Chaudhry Nisar and the Sharif brothers, terming them “speculative”.

“Please do not scandalise someone’s illness,” Mr Rashid said, adding that he personally knew that Chaudhry Nisar was ill. So much so, he added, the interior minister had fainted during a meeting last week.

Without disclosing the nature of illness, the information minister said Nisar Ali khan had been undergoing medical tests. Despite his illness, he added, the interior minister was in touch with him and working day and night.

On June 14, the media reported that Chaudhry Nisar had undergone angiography at a Rawalpindi hospital, but there has been no official word about the minister’s health.

Mr Rashid also denied that the interior minister had any difference of opinion over the government’s decision to launch military operation in North Waziristan. He also denied that Chaudhry Nisar and Mr Sharif had differences over handling of Musharraf’s case.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2014