Is NAB a biased, ineffective organisation?

Dr. Nafeesa Shah, PPP MNA

National Accountability Bureau could not be termed as an independent institution and Co-Chairman of the party Asif Ali Zardari had rightly said that NAB has damaged the very fabric of the national politics.

The victimization of political opponents by government through NAB is evident and in my view the dubious role of NAB should be subjected to scrutiny and I am confident that one day Parliament will conduct investigations into the biased role of NAB and victimization of Parliamentarians belonging to opposition parties.

Despite keeping in custody and framing a number of corruption cases against PPP central leaders including party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Syed Khursheed Shah and many others, not even a single case has been proved against any of their leader.

PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had witnessed the worst of NAB victimization not only in this government but he had been subjected to political victimization by the successive governments in the past. But interestingly none of the cases against him was proved so who we will make answerable for all what had happened to their leaders.

Similarly, Syed Khursheed Shah was also implicated in a fake case and despite keeping him in NAB custody, the government or NAB could not prove anything against him in any case proved against him. But let me tell you very clearly here, by doing all this they could not deter us from serving the cause of democracy and one day we will free the country from these usurpers who in the guise of democracy is damaging the very spirit of democratic culture.

While on the other hand the NAB is keeping mum on the blatant loot and plunder of ruling party Parliamentarians be it the Atta or Sugar scandal so how can we say it is independent and conducting across the board accountability.

Actually PTI government had badly failed to serve the people of Pakistan and now they are using these negative tactics like targeting and maligning the opposition parties through NAB, FIA and other departments to cover up their failures.

The fact of the matter is that they have made life extremely difficult for common people as the prices of essential commodities are sky-rocketing and unemployment is touching unprecedented level. Instead of solving these problems the PTI leaders are trying to hoodwink the people of Pakistan by engaging them in non-issues.

NAB is not only harassing the opposition parties Parliamentarians but also targeting the business community due to which the already collapsing national economy is further crashing down as businessmen are reluctant to invest in such a coercive atmosphere.

“Why NAB is not taking action against the people sitting around PM Imran”

Tahira Aurengzeb, PML-n MNA

It is actually a NAB-Niazi nexus  to harass the opposition parliamentarians to silent them from raising voice against the failures of the government and to point out their loot and plunder of the national wealth.

Why National Accountability Bureau is not moving against the people sitting around Prime Minister Imran Khan? Despite solid evidence against their involvement in Atta (floor) and sugar scandals NAB has not initiated even an inquiry against them what to speak of framing cases against them.

Why case is not instituted against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in foreign funding issue despite their admission of concealing more than two dozen accounts.

Right from PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, his son and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, Ehsan Iqbal, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Kh. Asif and others NAB had instituted fake and fabricated cases as part of their target of browbeating and to silence the voices of dissent in the Parliament. But I think they had miserably failed in their endeavor.

Not even a single case against any of the PML-N leader was proved in the NAB court and the cases where they (government) had managed conviction from trial courts were set aside or suspended by superior courts. The matter of NAB court judge late Arshid Malik’s video is before us where he had confessed awarding punishment to Mian Nawaz Sharif under duress.

I think PML-N central leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has rightly demanded that the proceedings of NAB cases should be live telecast on national media so that people of Pakistan can see for themselves the reality behind these fake and fabricated cases aimed at maligning the political opponents.

NAB is doing all this on behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan and that is the reason he (Imran Khan) has extended the stay of Chairman NAB in office despite culmination of his tenure. Chairman NAB has no legal and moral authority to stay in office and he should himself step down.

Time is approaching fast when people of Pakistan will take revenge from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for all what they have done with national economy due to which the lives of people have become miserable.

The prices of essential commodities have witnessed unprecedented hike, joblessness and inflation have broken all previous records while PTI government is portraying as if everything is okay and country is moving in right direction and national economy is gaining strength. But the fact of the matter is that country is at the verge of bankruptcy and default.

“NAB has turned a blind eye to the corruption of the government officials”

Mohammad Jamal-udDin, JUI-F MNA

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has failed to accomplish the task of netting those who had looted and plundered the national wealth and, in fact, it became a tool in the hands of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government which is using it to harass and demoralise its political opponents.

Regretfully, the NAB bosses have turned a blind eye to the corruption of the government officials. So the top anti-graft body of the country could not be termed as impartial and is just a stooge in the hands of the government.

The NAB officials have implicated a number of innocent people in corruption cases but in most of these cases people got exonerated from the courts, which clearly tainted the bureau’s reputation. But the main issue is, what about the damage these cases have caused to the reputation of those innocent people in the society, particularly in the eyes of their family members.

On the one hand, the government is using the NAB for its own agenda while on the other hand the NAB officials are busy in minting money from innocent people and have made the lives of business community miserable.

It is due to this dubious role of the National Accountability Bureau that JUI-F chief Moulana Fazlur Rehman had taken a strong position against it and refused to appear before it when some fake inquiry against him had been initiated, simply because the rulers were facing the heat of the JUI-F protest against them.

In my view in the given situation NAB could not be reformed as the very law governing it needs complete overhaul. In its present form it could only serve as tool in the hands of government.

Besides this, Chairman NAB continues to be in office despite the completion of his tenure. But as I have said earlier, the very law governing the accountability process is faulty, so in connivance with government, the NAB chief is staying in office by taking advantage of the loopholes in the law.

In my view Chairman NAB has lost all moral authority to stay in office and he should resign from the post immediately. But as he is hand-in-glove with the sitting PTI Government, he will not do it and will continue to take advantage of the situation.

I strongly feel that the government should rise above petty political gains by misusing NAB as such things will ultimately weaken the democratic institutions and people of Pakistan will be the ultimate loser.