PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that the judgment of Supreme Court in Panama Papers case should be implemented in its true spirit to end corruption.

He termed the verdict of apex court a vital one and said that no one, involve in loot and plunder of national wealth, should be spared. He said that the people found guilty in the case should be awarded exemplary punishment.

Addressing a public meeting in Mathra village here on Sunday, he said that important national issues were ignored on the pretext of Panama Papers case. “The worst affected in the prevailing situation are the Pakhtuns. They are also Pakistanis and government should give them their rights,” he added.

Sherpao says his party favours judicial commission to probe the issue

Provincial Senior Minister Sikandar Hayat Sherpao and QWP provincial general secretary Hashim Babar also spoke on the occasion.

Mr Sherpao said that corruption had penetrated into politics like cancer. “The QWP core committee has been in favour of judicial commission instead of JIT as it can probe Panama Papers issue more effectively,” he added. He said that continuation of sustainable democracy would usher in a new era of progress and development. He said that elections should be held on time so that durability of the institutions could be ensured at all costs.

The QWP chief said that Pakhtuns needed immediate attention of federal government so that thousands of displaced people could return to their homes without any further delay. He also urged government to ensure early merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Mr Sherpao said at least 60,000 people lost their lives in the war against terrorism. He said that it was duty of government to take effective steps for improvement of local economy and provision of jobs to people.

Condemning the murder of Mashal Khan, a student of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, he said that no such incident had taken place in the Pakhtuns society in the past. He said that the occurrence was damaging for indigenous traditions and decency. He said that administration of university, culprits and hidden elements were involved in the incident and they were protecting each other.

Mr Sherpao said that the triangle had become a vicious circle, which needed to be exposed. He expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation process, saying it was not in the right direction and was moving at snail’s pace. He said that any move to undermine the investigation and protect the culprits and facilitators would be strongly resisted. He said that the real culprits and facilitators were no more hidden.

Mr Sherpao said that unblocking national Identity cards of Pakhtuns was a right step but it should be implemented as soon as possible. He said that blocking of their identity cards created many problems for Pakhtuns.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2017