BOTH decision and timing are scarcely believable and will surely give more ammunition to those quarters denouncing the current accountability drive as purely politically motivated. The federal government must quickly clarify its position and ask the FIA to withdraw its request that the Supreme Court close the Asghar Khan case for lack of evidence and because too much time has elapsed since the events surrounding the rigging of the general election in 1990. The FIA’s findings are startling and deeply incongruous with efforts elsewhere at the moment to track down financial corruption and misuse of state resources. Indeed, the Asghar Khan case was and, barring the FIA’s ill-conceived decision to try and have the issue brought to a premature close, is a judicial matter that has the potential to alter the judicial, political and institutional landscapes of the country for the better. The deeply controversial and as yet unresolved events surrounding the general election held earlier this year have grimly underlined that the democratic project in the country remains very much a work in progress.

A satisfactory resolution of the Asghar Khan case is necessary because until the country fully confronts its political past, it will not be able to move decisively towards a better democratic future. When he was an outside opposition figure, Prime Minister Imran Khan grasped the importance of the Asghar Khan case and has numerous times gone on the record to demand that the case be pursued to its logical conclusion. Prime Minister Khan has embraced the idea of U-turns in office to much criticism, but surely if the PTI government seeks the immediate closure of the Asghar Khan case, it would mark an indefensible reversal. Perhaps the prime minister ought to consider how a decision to seek a premature end to the Asghar Khan case will reflect on the PTI’s aggressive support for accountability elsewhere. The very FIA that is seemingly unable to trace basic information required in the Asghar Khan case will likely be tasked with a monumental investigation of the alleged financial empire of PPP boss Asif Zardari. The foreign properties that led to the political downfall of Nawaz Sharif are traced back to the same era as the events chronicled in the Asghar Khan case.

It will be difficult to escape allegations of dual standards of justice when an elected prime minister can be removed from office and sent to jail, while a senior military figure, former ISI chief retired Gen Asad Durrani, who has candidly admitted to running a scheme to bribe politicians and steal an election, remains unprosecuted. And since Nawaz Sharif was the primary beneficiary of the stolen election in 1990, it would be deeply ironic that his arch rival, Prime Minister Khan, would in effect be exonerating ­Mr Sharif to help shield other individuals. The Asghar Khan case must not be buried.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2018