Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Thursday that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan was not arrested for his recent comments regarding the army chief because he ‘is not mentally sound’.
Sanaullah made these comments during an appearance on journalist Hamid Mir’s talk show on Thursday, where the two talked about Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Swati’s arrest for tweeting against the army chief.
Mir posed a question to the minister about why Aitzaz Ahsan wasn’t arrested for making the same comments that had resulted in Azam Swati getting arrested, asking if it was because he was associated with the PPP —which is part of the coalition government.
Sanaullah said, “Aitzaz Ahsan is not mentally sound, and often makes senseless comments,” adding, “He used to be a very intelligent and capable lawyer, but now his mental capacity is in front you, you can judge yourself.” To this, Mir said that what was in front of him was the fact that Ahsan was still fighting cases in the Supreme Court on the regular.
The interior minister said in response that the clients for whom Ahsan takes up cases end up regretting it, saying, “He was the lawyer for Geo News for a while, but the case he fought for them ended up hurting Geo for around 6 months.”
Hamid Mir then told him that Ahsan is now the lawyer for ARY News, to which Sanaullah said, “Then ARY is in for a tough time.”
PTI Senator Azam Swati was arrested on Thursday morning for tweeting ‘false information’ against state institutions, specifically the army chief, as per an FIR registered by the FIA. He had tweeted, “Mr Bajwa […] your plan is really working and all criminals are getting free at cost of this country,” and accused the army chief of ‘legitimising corruption’, and asked what he predicted the future of the country would be now.
On Tuesday, Aitzaz Ahsan had said during a media talk that COAS Bajwa committed a criminal act of great severity by facilitating the Sharif family’s acquittal. “Bajwa has committed a huge crime by letting them go,” said Aitzaz Ahsan, speaking candidly about how the charges against Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shehbaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had been dropped.
