- Says govt to follow court’s directives to produce ex-PM, FM in court on 28th in cypher case
- Stresses country basically needs a firewall that could regulate our media, especially social media
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti on Friday claimed that extraordinary facilities were being provided to former prime minister Imran Khan in jail that average citizen cannot even imagine, dubbing him ‘darling of the court.’
“Facilities provided to him (Imran) are more than those provided to an ordinary prisoner or a prime minister behind bars as he is, after all, a laadla of the courts”, Sarfraz Bugti said during an interview with Independent Urdu published on Friday.
Sharing details about the PTI chief’s arrest on May 9, Bugti claimed directives were issued “within two minutes” to take the PTI chief to Islamabad Police Lines in a Mercedes.
To a question about the special court’s directives to present the former premier and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi before the court on Nov 28 in the cypher case, Bugti said he would follow the court orders to the letter.
“We will abide by the court’s order regarding Imran’s appearance in court on November 28,” he said, acknowledging the importance of due legal process.
The caretaker minister also mentioned former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial’s “good to see you” remarks for Imran, saying that such instances strengthen his argument for judicial reforms.
“We direly need judicial reforms here,” he stated.
The caretaker minister further said that most of the cases filed against PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif were baseless, but at the same time asserted that no favours were being given to the PML-N.
More than 99pc of returning immigrants are Afghans
On the matter of deporting undocumented immigrants, Bugti said they were being sent back to their home country due to the lack of peace in Pakistan.
“This country is for Pakistanis; Pakistanis will live in it. Foreigners who want to live here should come in a legal manner. We will welcome them.
“If someone comes under a veil or by leaping over a wall, then we cannot give them the status of a guest,” the interior minister said.
Bugti stated that around 300,000 illegal immigrants had returned to their home country so far, of which more than 99 per cent are Afghan nationals.
Pakistan needs a ‘firewall’ against ‘hostile agencies’
When asked about the “failure” in dealing with the deadly clashes in Kurram district last month — that claimed over a dozen lives — Bugti said the word “failure is too big”.
The interior minister said there was no doubt that “hostile agencies in the fault lines of Pakistan” always tried to increase violence. “There is an attempt to increase fault lines,” he added.
Referring to the Jaranwala incident in August and unrest in Gilgit Baltistan in early September, Bugti said the “connections of conspiracies” in these places traced to “somewhere else”.
Expanding on the security situation in the country, Bugti talked about “planned” social media campaigns and said the country “basically needs a firewall that could regulate our media, especially social media”.
‘78pc of missing persons cases resolved’
Responding to a question about Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar being summoned by the Islamabad High Court in a case pertaining to missing persons, the minister said it was “not appropriate if the court began summoning the premier on every other minor issue”.
The senator claimed that the number of missing persons in Pakistan was the “lowest in the region” and said it had become a “propaganda tactic against the country”.
Bugti further said that 78pc of the cases mentioned in the lists provided to him had been resolved.
