LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has lambasted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for allegedly being a “hub of corruption”.

“Holding accountability (of the accused) is the responsibility of NAB. But it has become the most corrupt agency,” he told a group of students from Balochistan here on Thursday.

The statement came hours after a NAB court in Islamabad indicted ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a London property case. The former premier’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, and her husband retired Capt Muhammad Safdar were also indicted by the same court.

After the hearing, Mr Nawaz told the media in London that indictment in absentia was “unprecedented” (in the judicial history of the country) and said it was “murder of justice”.

Shahbaz Sharif explained that “the agency had been used for political motives by Musharraf regime and the succeeding government. That’s why NAB has become a hub of corruption instead of eliminating the menace it had been created for.” He admitted that the ruling elite needed to be put through the accountability process for looting resources of the poor nation.He urged the ruling elite to change its way of thinking as this coterie has made itself rich while making the nation poor.

Lamenting at the changing social norms, he said society had reached a point where corruption was taken as a status symbol instead of considering it a menace.

“The hapless people often leave this world after having failed to get justice, while the rich buy justice with the power of their money. The youth are rightly asking what Shahbaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Asif Zardari, Yousaf Raza Gilani and other rulers have done for the country. What have we done with the state of affairs. We have collectively ruined the golden future of our country due to our misdeeds,” he said.

The chief minister also called for putting “our house in order” -- something that corroborates the stance taken by Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

Later, the chief minister gave away laptops to the Khuzdar College students and announced providing a new bus and construction of residences and a state-of-the-art science lab in the college.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017