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ISLAMABAD: PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry on Monday demanded the PML-N-led coalition government to disclose details of foreign gifts retained by military generals and judges by putting an end to the idea of sacred cow, and sought an apology from the PML-N for levelling “baseless” allegations and running a “smear” campaign against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi over the last 11 months.
In a statement, Mr Chaudhry said: “I believe that this list is still incomplete. We should at least see the list from 1988. Furthermore, the gifts received by generals and judges should also be included,” he said, demanding an end to the idea of the sacred cow.
He also requested the Lahore High Court (LHC) to form an independent commission to investigate the Toshakhana record and verify whether the gifts were bought and kept legally and the required taxes were paid in this regard, adding that a probe should also be launched against rulers whether they declared the gifts in their assets’ declaration or not.
“The true misuse of the Toshakhana was how Nawaz Sharif and Zardari took out cars from there,” Mr Chaudhry said, adding that the price paid for luxury vehicles was just a penny compared to original worth of the vehicles. “They didn’t even leave a box of pineapples,” he added.
Mr Chaudhry had earlier retweeted a claim that Maryam Nawaz Sharif had acquired a watch from the Toshakhana while not being a public office bearer, and demanded action against her.
However, the user who made the apparently false claim subsequently deleted the tweet, as did Mr Chaudhry.
Ms Sharif later revealed in a tweet that she had requested the FIA to send notices to Mr Chaudhry over the false allegation, and the agency subsequently summoned Mr Chaudhry on March 17 to give his response over the complaint.
Lashing out at Ms Sharif, Mr Chaudhry said whether the FIA issued him one notice or 100 notices, he would not back down from his position and reiterated that investigation should be held against the Sharif family in the Toshakhana case.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2023
