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”.
Meanwhile, at the outset of the session, PTI MNA Asad Qaiser condemned Asif’s manner of addressing Speaker Ayaz Sadiq during yesterday’s seething session.
The former NA speaker 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 has been in the House 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 ongoing tense situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as excessive load-shedding.
In response, the NA speaker said: “I will try that my attitude remains as it should be towards you both (treasury and opposition). […] If I maintain this balance, then 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.
A day ago, the NA saw frequent noisy protests by the opposition members, as Defence Minister Khawaja Asif launched a blistering counterattack against Opposition Leader Omar Ayub after the latter accused the military establishment of interfering in the country’s political affairs and Feb 8 elections.
At one point during the 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.
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 — also the grandfather of Omar Ayub — 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.