PESHAWAR: Reacting to the arrest of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, leaders of various political parties said here on Thursday that politicians were being arrested to suppress the voice of opposition.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz activists held a protest demonstration here on Sher Shah Suri Road against the arrest of Maryam Nawaz and demanded her immediate release.

The protesters, led by MPA Sobia Khan and women wing provincial spokesperson Farah Khan, burnt old tyres and chanted anti-government slogans. They demanded of all political parties to raise voice against the arrest of politicians especially at a time when national cohesion was needed to condemn Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir.

PML-N activists hold demo, demand her release

Meanwhile, leaders of various political parties in their separate statements described the arrest of Maryam Nawaz as an attempt to divert public attention from the Kashmir issue and government’s weak policies.

Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan alleged that politicians were being arrested under a well-organised plan to suppress the voice of opposition. He said that the government would not be able to achieve its political objectives by taking such steps. He said that Maryam Nawaz was arrested due to her growing popularity and recent successful public meetings in Punjab.

The ANP leader said that at a time when the government was supposed to take effective steps for bringing all stakeholders on one page, it was using the National Accountability Bureau against the opposition leaders which was harming the national unity. He called for across-the-board accountability to eradicate corruption in real sense.

Qaumi Watan Party Chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that the government was targeting its political rivals and such steps would have a very negative impact. He said that the arrest of Maryam Nawaz seemed to be political victimisation, which created questions about impartiality of NAB.

Mr Sherpao said that frequent arrests of politicians had proved that the rulers had a dictatorial mindset to harass opposition leaders. He said that the government was unable to overcome the increasing prices of daily use commodities and joblessness and thus a sense of deprivation was spreading among the people.

The government, he said, was unable to devise its own economic policy and it was hell-bent on implementing the IMF-dictated budget, which negated its tall claims of bringing a positive change in the fate of nation.

PML-N provincial spokesman Ikhtiar Wali Khan also condemned the arrest of Maryam Nawaz and said that the government would not be able to frighten the party, which would continue the mission of Nawaz Sharif.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2019