ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan on Saturday tendered his resignation after he was forced to do so over his statements he made in an recent interview with BBC.
In a statement, the Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed said that Senator Mushahidullah was on a visit to Maldives but now he has been asked to immediately return home on the order of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The information minister said that Senator Mushahidullah will gave explanation to the prime minister as sought by the later from the Senator for his statement in an interview broadcast by BBC.
In an interview to BBC broadcast on Friday, Senator Mushahidullah Khan had claimed that the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief retd Lieutenant General Zaheerul Islam was ambitious for a coup during the last year’s sit-ins by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).
The Senator also claimed that the incumbent government had an audio tape obtained by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in which the former ISI Chief could be heard giving orders to spread chaos with an ultimate purpose to overthrow the Nawaz Sharif’s government.
However, the government denied existence of any recorded tape of former ISI Chief as alleged by Mushahidullah Khan and sought an explanation from the minister for his statement in the interview.
Earlier, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Asad Umar in a tweet said that if the accusations against the former ISI chief turned out to be false, Senator Mushahidullah should be sacked from his job as the minister and ousted from the party.
if the allegation against DG ISI was false at the very least the minister should be sacked from his job and thrown out of the party
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 15, 2015
The PTI leader also asked the prime minister to stop the “good cop bad cop drama” and said he should clear his stance by taking action against his ministers for levelling false allegations if he disagrees with them.
and if the PM thinks his ministers are lying then he has to order action against them. He cannot continue this good cop bad cop drama
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 15, 2015
The prime minister has to take a clear stand. If he agrees with his ministers he should order action against those who conspired
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 15, 2015
