Pakistan minister claims corrupt opposition politicians are liable to be killed

ISLAMABAD: After causing massive losses to Pakistan International Airlines (

PIA

) by claiming that a third of the country’s pilots had fake degrees, country’s aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has now sparked another controversy by saying that corrupt politicians from Opposition Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were liable to be killed.


“PML-N and PPP had looted the country’s

wealth

during their tenures in power. They looted the national exchequer ruthlessly. All these people are ‘wajibul qatl’ (liable to be killed),” Sarwar told reporters after inspecting a Labor Complex in Taxila, a town famous for ruins of several settlements, including remains dating from around 1000 BCE.

Condemning Sarwar’s statement, science and technology minister Fawad Chaudhry termed it “very inappropriate”. “It appears the aviation minister has failed to ascertain the gravity of such statements,” Chaudhry posted on Twitter. “Politics is a war of ideas; it’s no more the era of killing opponents. Such statements are in bad taste and cannot be approved,” he added.

Slamming Sarwar for his “irresponsible” statement, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb alleged that the people who had actually looted the national wealth were all sitting in prime minister Imran Khan’s cabinet.

Similarly, PPP secretary general Nayyar Bukhari pointed out that Sarwar had been a part of the PPP during its previous government and should offer himself up for punishment as a first step. He said the language used by Sarwar did not suit a man with the portfolio of a minister.