NA opposition leader says Defence Minister Asif’s remarks about Ayub Khan ‘unwarranted’

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub on Tuesday said Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s “personal” remarks about former dictator Ayub Khan were “unwarranted”.

Speaking on the floor of the Lower House, he said that Ayub Khan — his grandfather and father of former NA speaker Gohar Ayub — was a “part of history”.

A day ago, the NA saw frequent noisy protests by the opposition members, as Asif launched a blistering counterattack against PTI’s Ayub after the latter accused the military establishment of interfering in the country’s political affairs and Feb 8 elections.

Ayub, highlighting the Constitutional limits for state institutions, had suggested that violators of the Constitution should be tried for treason under Article 6 (high treason).

Criticising last week’s “political” press conference by the director general (DG) of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Ayub had said: “Security agencies cannot indulge in politics as per the Constitution,” adding that they were “tools of the state, not the state itself”.

In a searing response, Asif had said that accountability should begin with former dictator Ayub Khan and called for his body to be “dug out and hanged as per Article 6”.

Article 6 of the Constitution says: “Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or hold in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the Constitution by use of force or show force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”

The punishment for high treason is death or lifetime imprisonment, according to the High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973.

Today, Ayub said: “The personal remarks he (Asif) made there; they were unwarranted”.

At this, the NA speaker noted that Asif had not mentioned Ayub by name, to which he replied that the defence minister had taken his family and grandfather’s names as well as used “non-parliamentary words”.

The opposition leader added that the martial law referred to by Asif had been imposed by Iskander Mirza: “That is a historic fact.”

“I think we’re going in the wrong direction,” the NA speaker said, adding that Ayub had sought a “point of personal explanation” but he was not named by Asif in the first place.

The PTI MNA then asserted that he had been elected to the Lower House due to the “public’s votes in a tough election”.

As Ayub said he would like to bring attention to a “historical fact” about Asif’s father, Sadiq interjected, saying that people who were no more alive should be respected.

However, Ayub continued speaking, claiming that Asif had been defeated by PTI-backed Rehana Dar in the general elections this year, while the NA speaker urged him not to proceed with his speech, warning that the House agenda would be “derailed”.

The NA speaker then presented the House floor to Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen’s (MWM) parliamentary leader Hammed Hussain to speak.

Meanwhile, at the outset of the session, PTI MNA Asad Qaiser condemned Asif’s manner of addressing Speaker Ayaz Sadiq yesterday.

At one point during Monday’s heated exchange, the defence minister had appeared visibly frustrated and burst out at the NA speaker to maintain order in the House and allow him to speak.

Addressing Sadiq, Qaiser said: “The manner in which he (Khawaja Asif) addressed you and spoke with you; I condemn that.”

Emphasising that the role of the NA speaker was “highly respectable”, the PTI leader said Asif should have “shown tolerance” as he had been a lawmaker for years.

“He is an 80-year-old elderly man [so] he should at least have some etiquette,” he added. Qaiser went on to criticise the government for the tense situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as excessive load-shedding.

In response, Sadiq said: “I will try that my attitude remains as it ought to be towards you both (treasury and opposition). […] If I maintain this balance, the House can function well.”

When given the floor to speak, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that some affairs were “historical” and get exaggerated when one “reacts excessively”.

He said the “beauty of democracy lies in convincing through dialogue, argument and logic”, and that “nothing comes out of hurling books and whistling”.

“Let’s rethink our roles, whether we only care for our political agendas or the state of Pakistan,” Tarar said.