'If Nawaz Sharif's passport is confiscated today, same thing can happen to someone else tomorrow'
January 01, 2021
- "Someone else's [passport] can be confiscated in the future," Sirajul Haq says
- Notes that there's "no difference between the policies" of PTI, PDM
- Says every aspect of life destroyed due to the PTI regime's failures, incompetence
- Adds that no decision had been made about the upcoming Senate elections
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq has expressed concern after the federal governments intentions of cancelling Nawaz Sharif's Pakistani passport.
"If Nawaz Sharif's passport is to be confiscated today, then it is likely that someone else's [passport] will be confiscated in the future," Haq said, adding that cancelling it and revoking the former premier's citizenship would amount to injustice.
"There is no difference between the policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)," he said, referring to the ruling party and the anti-government campaign organised by the Opposition parties, including the PPP, PML-N, and the JUI-F.
The JI chief underlined that every aspect of life had been destroyed due to the PTI regime's incompetence and failures.
Read more: What happens when Nawaz Sharif’s passport is cancelled?
Speaking of the upcoming Senate elections, which the PTI regime has hinted at holding in a month earlier than scheduled, Haq said no decision had been made about it yet. "The government has gone to court [regarding that]," he added.
Two days prior, the federal government decided to cancel former PM Nawaz Sharif's passport in a month-and-a-half, with Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed confirming the move.
"We have decided to cancel Nawaz Sharif's passport on February 16," Rasheed had told reporters in Islamabad in what came as the latest development after the PTI regime approached authorities in the United Kingdom to extradite the PML-N supremo.
Related: Shaikh Rasheed says Nawaz Sharif's passport will be cancelled on Feb 16
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Accountability and Interior, Barrister Shahzad Akbar, had earlier said it was up to the British government to decide on the extradition of the former premier.
Sources in the interior ministry had confirmed that Nawaz Sharif's passport would expire in the mid of February, saying it would not be renewed.
The interior ministry had issued instructions to the Passport and Immigration Directorate not to renew the former PM's passport, the sources had added.
The PML-N supremo was granted an eight-week bail on medical grounds in October 2019, a month after which he was allowed to travel abroad for treatment for a four-week period. The federal government, however, said Nawaz did not share the details of his treatment, which was a condition for being allowed to leave Pakistan.
Also read: NAB requests cancellation of Nawaz Sharif’s passport, CNIC
It may be added here that the deposed premier has been declared proclaimed offender by Islamabad High Court (IHC) and an accountability court for failing to appear before the bench.
Back in October, Pakistan's anti-graft watchdog had requested the interior ministry to "cancel" the former prime minister's passport and "block" his national identity card.
The National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) Rawalpindi chapter wrote to the ministry, asking them to cancel the aforesaid documents of the PML-N supremo for his absence from the court and, especially after being declared a proclaimed offender.
Sources had said at that time the anti-corruption body had recommended the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) be approached to arrest Nawaz Sharif.
