THIS is with reference to Asha’ar Rehman’s article, ‘No let-up’ (Aug 16). The comparison between the incarceration of Mrs Faryal Talpur and Ms Maryam Nawaz seems illogical and contrary to facts.

Ms Nawaz has been convicted by a court of law, irrespective of the lack of due process as agitated by Ms Nawaz, whereas Mrs Talpur continues to remain an accused in a cock-and-bull story based on misinformation.

Mrs Talpur is a former district nazim, two times MNA and currently an MPA in the assembly of the only province that continues to stay out of the PTI’s reach.

The PPP’s political success in Sindh has greatly increased since 2008, and Mrs Talpur, to her credit, has remained an active and potent force for this success. Mrs Talpur’s medical condition is on record, and the haste with which she was moved out of the hospital into jail remains beyond comprehension.

Was Mrs Talpur planning to flee the hospital, the city of Islamabad and the country? Were her conditions of hypertension and diabetes incorrect as per government doctors? Why was she moved a day before Eid — and that too in the middle of the night without taking into consideration her medical condition?

Perhaps the intention is never to follow due process and prove charges against the accused but to hoodwink the country by diverting attention from pressing concerns like the government’s failure on the Kashmir issue, the economic management and a negative scorecard on all of their plans. The only achievement for them to show is that political leaders have been locked in prison and that they will recover the ‘looted wealth’ from them.

Mrs Faryal Talpur has ably led the PPP’s women’s wing for the last 10 odd years.

The media has been used to talk about corruption and kickbacks as a standard story across the 1990s and 2000s. The current mantra is money laundering. The mode is the same: conduct media trial and hoodwink the nation, nothing more. The PPP leadership has always stood with the people of this great country and faced all persecution with grace and dignity even though our dignity has been repeatedly maligned by the persecutors.

Murtaza Wahab

Adviser to Sindh chief minister

Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2019