Former finance minister Ishaq Dar and a close aide of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has alleged that dozens of people have been killed virtually in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Talking to an international news channel exclusively, the now absconding former minister said that he was in London for medical treatment, adding that he was suffering from a cervical issue.
After the PML-N leader denied allegations of corruption against him and boasted of a clean tax record, host Stephen Sackur asked him point-blank how many properties he and his family owned.
“It’s all declared in my tax returns,” replied Dar. “I have my main residence in Pakistan which has been taken over by this (PTI) regime. I haven’t got too many properties.”
Sackur confronted him here asking if he is innocent and has no skeletons in his cupboard, then why doesn’t he return to Pakistan to defend himself. “You only own one property in the entire world; your tax records have been kept and given to the authorities for the last 20 years; when everything is crystal clear, then why do you not go to Pakistan to make this case in the court of law,” Sackur asked.
Dar said his attorney was there to contest the cases against him in the court of law and that he was in London for treatment of his “cervical issue”. Sackur confronted him again: “You have been here for three years… You’re still suffering? You couldn’t possibly go back to Pakistan?”
When asked whether he would return to Pakistan, Dar said, “Where are the human rights in Pakistan, what’s happening in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody where dozens of people have been virtually killed. There are human rights abuses.”
Dar was declared an absconder by the Supreme Court in 2017 when he failed to appear before it since he was in London, reportedly undergoing medical treatment. Since then, he remains in London. He also came under severe criticism on social media as netizens grilled him for his mockery on the international talk show.
