ISLAMABAD, July 6: The Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) has criticized the government’s measures that the party says have been creating feelings of inter-provincial hatred, and thus weakening the federation.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, the spokesman for PML (N) criticized the practice of National Accountability Bureau to get verdicts against persons belonging to Sind or the NWFP from the courts in the Punjab.

“While most of the cases filed by NAB against politicians are perceived by the people as acts of victimization, their trial by courts situated in the Punjab give rise to feelings of inter- provincial hatred,” the PML (N) spokesman said.

In this respect, the spokesman cited the example of a fresh reference against Asif Zardari filed by the NAB in an anti- terrorist court of Attock in the Punjab province.

He said, earlier the NAB used the same court to get a verdict against Sardar Mehtab Khan, the former chief minister of NWFP.

He alleged that Mr Khan’s case was a prime example of denial of justice that had become a hallmark of the military regime’s style of governance. Mr Khan had filed an appeal against the Attock court’s judgment with the Lahore High Court that had been lying unheard for the past 22 months, he added.

The spokesman pointed out that under the NAB law provisions, the High Court was bound to decide an appeal within a period of 30 days.