LAHORE - PML-Q central leader and former chief minister Ch Parvez Elahi has said the government is trying to hush-up the issue of security breach by setting up an inquiry committee under a retired judge.

“How can a retired judge investigate a matter relating to national security?” he asked while addressing a news conference yesterday at his residence along with his party MNA Tariq Bashir Cheema.

He termed the inquiry committee set up by the government a “hush-up committee”, saying it will not get at the real culprits. Elahi said it was a big joke with the nation and the army as the nation had already seen the fate of an inquiry by a serving judge of the Lahore High Court in the Model Town massacre case.

He added the proposed committee was an attempt to bury this very important and sensitive issue and the government had already sent abroad an important character and witness of this leak. The PML-Q leader suspected that the inquiry will not be transparent and independent since it will be submitting its report to the prime minister and he will be empowered to order any further action in this regard.

He asked if former information minister Pervaiz Rasheed was innocent then why he had been removed. Replying to a question, Elahi said that national security breach was a matter of great concern for the entire nation and all those involved in it should be exposed and punished according to law.