Senate Standing Committee on Interior Chairman Senator Abdul Rehman Malik on Monday wrote a letter to Financial Action Task Force President Dr Marcus Pleyer, pleading him to remove Pakistan from FATF’s grey list given to Indian propaganda against Pakistan exposed by DisinfoLab EU as Indian chronicles.
He also thanked him for giving a relief of five months grace period to Pakistan for submission of response on FATF observations and requested to either permanently remove the name of Pakistan from the grey list of FATF, or, extend further grace period in wake of coronavirus outbreak to enable the country to exercise our full potential against the pandemic. He expressed that the COVID-19 pandemic has already damaged Pakistani economy tremendously and the restrictions imposed because of FATA grey list are further hampering the economy.
Senator A. Rehman Malik made the letter public while addressing a press conference and said that UN report on terrorism has warned that there are a significant number of ISIS terrorists in two states of India, namely Kerala and Karnataka and proven facts that India is financing and supporting terrorism, yet FATF so far has initiated no action while merely based on propaganda Pakistan is placed in grey list.
Senator Rehman Malik in his letter to FATF President writes “FATF’s restrictions are negatively impacting the lives of ordinary people of Pakistan, I once again request you to please dismiss the complaint against Pakistan as it was maneuvered by India for its political vendetta against Pakistan, which has now been fully exposed by DisinfoLab EU as to how India made fake, baseless and venomous propaganda to harm the reputation of Pakistan.” The background work of Indian propaganda based on criminal activities of Indian government stands fully exposed which you may like to refer and peruse on the DisinfoLab’s official website, he adds.
Senator Rehman Malik writes that he hopes FATF in its upcoming meeting will examine the Indian misconduct and he also hopeful that the complainant country USA will also reconsider to withdraw this complaint as Pakistan has been falsely framed into money laundering without evidence and basis. “The criminal forgery by India against Pakistan regarding its alleged involvement in money laundering needs your impartial review to decide to withdraw Pakistan from the Grey List”, he writes.
He further writes that Pakistan is suffering heavily from COVID-19 pandemic and many other factors have contributed to adversely affecting its economy. In his letter, he has stressed upon the following factors to bring into the notice of FATF which have given irreversible economic loss to Pakistan: Participation in US war on terror; Taliban& al Qaeda attacks on Pakistan, Daesh operating from Afghanistan and India’s involvement in exporting terrorism to Pakistan from across the eastern as well as western borders; DisinfoLab exposed as to how Indian State used European Union soil to wage hybrid war against Pakistan; Pakistan, being in the FATF Grey List, is unable to handle its financial dealings, especially by the business community through their international banks.
Senator Rehman Malik in his letter to FATF President has elaborated that the disclosures made by DisinfoLab have now made it clear that Pakistan was made a victim of a hybrid war launched by India for the sake of its political vendetta against my country. He writes that rather, Pakistan had made significant contributions towards achieving world peace by participating in US war on terror and fight against money laundering. Even though, Pakistan is suffering heavily for having committed no alleged crime but for helping the international community, he expressed.
He added that people of Pakistan are rightly upset to note that despite losing seventy thousand innocent lives, fighting for the US war on terror and against money laundering, instead of appreciating its contribution to the world peace, the international community, including FATF, is treating Pakistan unkindly and unjustly.
At end of his letter, Senator Rehman Malik pleaded that in view of the above mentioned real hard facts and our heavy economic sufferings, he earnestly appeals to take the name of Pakistan out of the Grey List of FATF, as continuously keeping our nation on the grey list, without any cogent reasons as it was maneuvered by India, will further cause irreversible loss to our economy and reputation.
While responding to question about Broadsheet scandal, Senator Rehman Malik said that Broadsheet scandal has landed the country in an embarrassing situation, exposing our legal and inability to handle the issues going on in foreign courts. Instead of hunting stolen money by some Pakistanis, Broadsheet, unfortunately, hunted Pakistan itself and now Pakistan has been forced to pay Broadsheet instead of getting the assets recovered, he added. He said that the Broadsheet owners/claimants deserve to be in jail rather than being the beneficiary of $28 million from our national exchequer and our government must move a case for criminal proceedings against them.
Earlier Malik visited and participated in the sit-in protest by doctors and paramedics against the privatization of Pakistan Medical Institute of Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad. Addressing a large number of protestors, he said that PIMS was established to take care of the health of residents of Islamabad and government employees. He said that privatization of PIMS is violation of Service Act as medical treatment is part of service package and they can’t be deprived of their basic right. He said that by privatization of PIMS, the poor government servants and residents of Islamabad and surrounding areas shall be deprived of their basic right of health facility. He said that very surprisingly, the Government has taken the decision of privatization of PIMS without approval of Parliament and he and his party will oppose this anti-poor move at every forum. He said that privatization would not only put jobs of doctors, nurses, paramedics and other employees of PIMS at stake but will also increase the cost of treatment of the poor and government employees.
