Islamabad: Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda has come up with another perturbing solution to the ills of Pakistan - the mass execution of some 5,000 corrupt people.
While taking part in a talk show on a private TV channel, Vawda insisted he meant mass murder of 5,000 corrupt people without even trying them in the court of law.
This statement by a member of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Cabinet has drawn criticism and politicians as well as social media users are registering strong protest.
Vawda said: “Hanging 5,000 corrupt people will change the fate of 220 million Pakistanis.”
The host of the said show, a seasoned journalist Hamid Mir, interrupted Vawda asking if he meant execution [of the corrupt] after due process of law. To this he replied in that case [if tried by court of law] there would be no execution and Pakistan will continue to suffer. “I mean mass execution without trial,” he insisted.
Another participant in the show, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Saeed Gani drew the programme host’s attention that 70 per cent of those 5,000 people would be from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) itself.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) former minister for defence Khurram Dastgir Khan took exception to Faisal Vawda’s statement saying this shows his party’s fascist mindset. Imran Khan too is known for using such language and now his ministers are following him, said Khurram Dastgir Khan.
In the same programme, Faisal Vawda while welcoming the recent arrests of Asif Zardari and Hamza Shahbaz, hinted at the arrest of the former Prime Minister and the PML-N stalwart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
He said that the government had got important evidence against Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the LNG case which will soon be revealed to the media.
Faisal Vawda has been in news in Pakistani media for issuing such statements that cause embarrassment for his leader and the PTI government. Earlier, in April this year, while speaking the in the same TV show, he had promised millions of jobs in the next two weeks. He had even said there would be so many jobs that people would have the choice to accept or not to accept.
However, his claims dashed down to the grounds and poverty and unemployment are all time high in the country.
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, at a press conference, criticised the mass execution statement, saying the government should take notice of such irresponsible statements by its minister who thinks Pakistan’s ills can be addressed by killing people en masse.
