A fine example of good governance

Law minister couldn’t help praising on VoA

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ISLAMABAD: Federal Law Minister Wasi Zafar repeatedly hurled naked abuse in a live Voice of America (VoA) radio discussion on chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's deposition, which was heard worldwide on Monday night. There were three participants in the telephonic discussion — Wasi Zafar, constitutional expert Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and Ansar Abbasi, Editor Investigations, The News, Islamabad. Ansar joined the talk a bit late and said he fears to say anything because of Wasi Zafar's peculiar temperament and track record. As he uttered these remarks, the law minister came in and said whoever gives him a "big arm", he would do the same to his family. As Wasi Zafar heard Ansar joining the programme, he lost his cool and started hurling abuse. He was angered because of a story headlined "Law minister facing long arm of the law" that Ansar had filed and was published in The News on August 13, 2005. It said the prime minister and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain would decide the fate of the law minister for his son's thrashing of a PIA passenger in his presence at the Karachi airport. Earlier in the programme, Aitzaz Ahsan had also threatened to break off due to the foul language of the law minister. But he was persuaded by the host to continue. Ansar regretted the repetition of the abuse by Wasi Zafar and said the world was listening to the kind of language the minister was using. A caller from Pishin, Naeem Taseer, also wondered what question should be asked from this kind of a minister. Later, Wasi Zafar vehemently denied on Geo that he hurled any abuse on the VoA programme. However, the audio played by the TV network gave a lie to his assertion. The minister again poured his anger on Ansar, saying he was corrupt and a blackmailer, who gets money for his stories. In the same programme, Ansar said there was a serious problem in the minister's personality. He said the high-ups should take notice of such buffoons who are bringing a bad name to Pakistan. The other day, the Jaranwala Bar Association cancelled Wasi Zafar's basic membership and recommended to the Pakistan Bar Council that his licence should be revoked. Wasi Zafar earned notoriety when he threatened a chairman of the Capital Development Authority, who had refused to give a concession to him regarding an industrial plot. He and his sons had also thrashed a person at the Karachi airport in 2005, who objected to the minister's sons jumping the queue. Later, he slapped a waiter of a five-star hotel in Islamabad over a trivial matter.