ISLAMABAD: The Natio­nal Accountability Bureau (NAB) records show that the highest amount of the plundered money recovered by it belonged to the military men, followed by bureaucrats and politicians, the chief of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), Maulana Fazlur Rehman, said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a gathering organised by the party’s Saudi Arabia chapter to mark the centenary celebrations of the JUI-F.

The Maulana alleged that it was being propagated through social media that “dictatorship is better than democracy”.

Former military dictator retired Gen Pervez Mushar­raf, he said, set up the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which made recoveries from generals, bureaucrats and politicians.

In an answer to a question raised in parliament it was revealed that the highest number of recoveries were made from the military men, then came bureaucrats and the least amount was recovered from the politicians, the Maulana said.

Instead of seeking apology on these disclosures, a campaign was launched to “defame parliament and weaken democracy”, the JUI-F chief alleged.

The Maulana regretted that a trend had been set where one institution was busy weakening the other.

No institution should think that it could force other institutions to follow its dictates because states were not run like that, he said.

The JUI-F chief challenged Gen Musharraf’s statement that the civilian governments always derailed the country while military rule brought it back on track and said how dare he (Gen Musharraf) made such a statement.

Accusing dictators of not wanting to see the nation united, Maulana Fazl said: “It is you who do not want to see good civil-military relations and let institutions end confrontations. How long are we going to see each other with reservations; we do not want infighting,” he said.

He termed the Panama Papers controversy part of an international conspiracy hatched by the US to establish its hegemony in the region. “Apparently it appears an internal issue which it isn’t,” he claimed.

He accused the US of wanting to destabilise Pakistan and destroy it like Iraq and Afghanistan, and feared that Pakistan was being targeted because of Islamabad’s role in making China an economic power.

On former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification, he said: “We think that a matter has been referred to the court. The case is under process and the decision will come in the light of the norms of justice”.

Maulana Fazl warned against committing any mistake as according to him next 10 to 15 years were crucial for the country’s future while regretting that the nation had already started making mistakes.

He called upon politicians, parliament, judiciary, executive and establishment to sense the gravity of the situation and work with unity for the implementation of the constitution and democracy to flourish.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2017