It was unnecessary on the part of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to mention, only yesterday, the Army Chief in the context of the current political crisis facing the country adding that it may trigger undesirable controversy, said Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo in a statement issued from here today.
He was commenting on the speech of the Punjab Chief Minister yesterday before the PML (N) workers in Lahore announcing that in the presence of the incumbent Army Chief no body could dare to harm democracy and the constitution.
He said that the General was a professional soldier who belonged to the family that had rendered ultimate sacrifices in the defense of the country and was awarded Nishan-i- Haider.
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo said that the army was rendering outstanding services in the war against terrorism and such utterances as of Punjab Chief Minister would not detract the army leadership from the war against terrorism. But, it was not prudent to single out the Army Chief as a savior of democracy and the constitution to the exclusion of the other stakeholders, he added.
He opined that the whole nation was the custodian of constitution and democracy adding that civil society, legal fraternity, intellectuals, army, media and judiciary firmly stood guard to defend the constitution and democracy because they were all stakeholders in the system reflective of the aspirations of the people.
He pointed out that the top government functionaries should desist from uttering unguarded statements those tend to vitiate the political environment, detrimental to the painstaking efforts of the interlocutors engaged to find out the political settlement of the current political gridlock.
He referred to the similar speech of the Interior Minister a few days back that created storm in the Parliament to the utters dismay of the people of Pakistan who were happy to know that the overwhelming majority of the House was firm to defend it in absolute terms.
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo observed that the uncalled for statements by the mandarins hurt the efforts of creating an enabling environment for the smooth functioning of the affairs of the governance and indeed of the state.
He argued that the Chief Minister‘s flaunt was unnecessary that only raised the question about his sense of proportion on important matters of national importance. It will not sink well in the relevant quarters and the fair minded people of the society as well, he commented.
He further said that the Chief Minister of Punjab should concentrate on addressing the governing issues in providing relief to the people who were leading miserable lives due to price hike, worsening law and order situation, load shedding, poverty and now floods in many parts of the province.
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo underscored the importance of bringing the culprits of the Model Town incident in the dock at the earliest to meet the demands of justice.
