SUKKUR: Senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah has said that everything in black and white behind the unprecedented inflation in the country can emerge if the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government at the centre agrees to hold a debate in parliament on the issue. He claimed that the ruling party was not ready to hold such a debate.

Speaking to the media after attending hearing of a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference against him in the Sukkur Accountability Court on Monday, Mr Shah complained that the PTI people always blamed successive governments for all ills but never spoke about their own performance of the last 30 months.

He repeated his earlier remarks that a “civilian martial law-like” rule had been imposed on the country in the shape of the PTI government.

“I’m not worried over what treatment [is] being meted out to me, but over what is being done with this country and its people,” he said, and noted that the common man was finding it difficult even to have one square meal due to inflation. Instead of doing something to bring down prices of essential commodities, the prime minister was every now and then reiterating that he would not give NRO [to plunderers of the exchequer]. “They should better respond to the fresh report of Transparency International that has observed increase in corruption in the country,” he said.

Mr Shah said the report in fact exposed them [PTI ministers and other leaders.]

He said that salaries of those belonging to the middle class was not increasing despite a constant rise in inflation. He recalled that PPP government had increased their salaries by 135pc in accordance with the inflation graph. He said reasonable prices of various crops were also ensured to improve the lot of the farming community.

The veteran PPP leader called for a strong legislature and judiciary in the country saying that this would help strengthen other state institutions.

During the hearing of the NAB reference against Mr Shah along with his several family members and associates for allegedly accumulating Rs1.23 billion assets beyond his known sources of income, Judge Fareed Anwar Kazi recorded statements of Nadra representative and adjourned the case to Feb 4.

Besides Mr Shah, his two wives and close relatives, including provincial minister Awais Qadir Shah and MPA Farrukh Shah, and other co-accused were present in the court.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2021