ISLAMABAD/Quetta – In a shocking move, Saturday night, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani forced Minister for Defence Production Abdul Qayyum Jatoi to resign after he failed to give a satisfactory explanation on his critical remarks he gave about the Army and Chief Justice of Pakistan earlier in the day.
Following the provocative and irresponsible statement against the state institutions and very person of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Jatoi was summoned to Federal Capital by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and on finding his clarification on the matter as unsatisfactory, the PM sought his resignation as Federal Minister.
Earlier, speaking during a news conference at Bugti House in Quetta, Qayyum Jatoi had castigated Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and also slated the hearings of fake degree cases.
On the occasion, he claimed that the CJP belonged to Faisalabad but was appointed on a bogus domicile, showing him as a resident of Balochistan, he said while responding to a query about the hearing of fake degree cases at Bugti House in Quetta.
To another question, Jatoi said the PPP was neither scared of the Army nor the sound of boots, adding that the uniforms and the boots had not been provided to the Army to use them against their own men or to kill them but to serve the nation and ensure security at the borders. He added that Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party would never be deterred by the ArmyÂ’s intervention, adding that Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was killed by the Army while the country also lost the top popular leaders including Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto because of the same forces.
The PPP-led coalition government had already decided that no institution would be allowed to go beyond the prescribed limits, he said. He said the PPP had been made accountable the very day of its inception but no one had ever dared to ensure accountability of judiciary, bureaucrats and dictators.
Jatoi also vowed that his party would never bow to any institution or powerful quarter.
Answering another query, Jatoi said accountability should not be specific to a particular individual or group, as the process must be all-encompassing without any discrimination, adding that Punjab has 65 per cent of population, but controlling the country for the last 65 years, which would take time to end the control.
He answered another related question saying, “The right of corruption had been given to the specific people and I believe that every person whether he is Baloch, Sindhi, Seraiki, Pakhtun or Punjabi should be given an equal right to do corruption in order to ensure equality.”
He said that the government would resist the elements trying to dismantle the present democratic set-up. The Muslim League was the B-team of establishment and there would be no democracy in case it came into power, he claimed.
Former premier Mir Zafarullah Jamali, ex-chief minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf and current Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Owais Ghani were the establishment’s products, he remarked and claimed that they involved in the assassination plot of Nawab Akbar Bugti. “Nawab Bugti was assassinated by the Army on the directives of Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf, who was the then Chief of the Army Staff,” he said, adding the government would arrest him on his return to the country.
He said Pakistan was fighting the war against terrorism with Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as the commander; therefore, his service was extended.
The Minister said the PPP leaders and workers had always struggled against dictatorship and sacrificed their blood. “We have given numerous sacrifices for the country and would continue the same. We are also fighting against the forces hell-bent to undermine the country,” he added.
Earlier, he offered fateha for the departed soul of Akbar Bugti. Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Talal Akbar Bugti and Shahzain Bugti were also present on the occasion.
Our monitoring desk adds: Later, talking to a TV channel, Jatoi said the Prime Minister had the authority to remove him from the office. But, he said, the views he had expressed were his personal opinion and there should be no curb over freedom of expression.
He said he was ready to appear before any court if he was asked to clarify his stance.
Meanwhile, PPP leadership has dissociated itself from the recent remarks of Abdul Qayyum Jatoi.
Commenting on the remarks of Jatoi, Central Information Secretary of Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party Fouzia Wahab termed it highly irresponsible and provocative, and completely disowned it and termed the statement as personal views of the Minister.
PPP Senator Faisal Raza Abidi said that he was not in picture in what circumstances the Minister had given such an irresponsible statement and made it loud and clear that the party leadership had nothing to do with it.
He said that PPP believed in respect to all state institutions and the party could not support such a move by any of its party members or ministers.