Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal regretted that Pakistan could not overcome conspiracies in the past 70 years due to military dictators, who ‘ruin the country and then left the rebuilding process to civilian governments’.
Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday, he said the real motive behind the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat (the finality of the Prophethood) slogan was Khatm-e-Hukumat (overthrowing the government).
“We all are Muslims, we all have faith in Khatm-e-Nabuwwat… but the number of fatwas (Islamic pronouncement) on the issue in Pakistan is unparalleled across the globe,” he said.
Iqbal went on to say, “We need scientists in the country, but instead have an abundance of muftis and pirs [clerics and spiritual gurus].”
The world was making headways and on the other hand “we were busy pulling legs and calling names”, he said, adding that the Pakistani nation is as good as any other and Pakistani politics as respectable and that of the neighbouring country, an apparent reference to India.
Iqbal, who also holds the portfolio of planning and development ministry before assuming the interior ministry charge, said scientific researches were the benchmark for any country’s progress, adding that ‘Vision 2025’ introduced by his government soon after coming into power in 2013 was being mocked by pseudo-intellectual opponents.
Lauding his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for ‘eliminating electricity loadshedding’ from the country, he said that 10,000MW additional power was added in the national grid in the last four years.
Pakistan’s GDP would have been 6.5 without the political turmoil the country had witnessed in the recent past, he added.
While emphasising on uninterrupted development projects in the country, the minister said: “We have wasted 70 years and cannot afford to do so anymore… progress is not the T20 but a Test match.”
