ISLAMABAD - Quickly responding to the fresh criticism of his party fellow Senator Pervaiz Rasheed on him, Ch. Nisar Ali Khan, through his spokesman, said on Monday that he did not respond to those having shallow link with Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).

Earlier in the day, Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, while talking to a private TV channel, had asked Nisar to quit the party if he was the man of principles. He had also claimed that former interior minister Nisar had always given ‘misleading statements and gone against the party policy at testing times.’

The Nisar’s spokesman, referring to the remarks of former information minister Pervaiz Rasheed without naming him, said that he should better ask party chief Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to make public the Dawn Leaks inquiry report, so that the ‘ugly deeds’ of the fellow should come to the surface.

He regretted that unfortunately the person who was spitting venom like Modi against Pakistan Army was trying to portray him as a wheeler-dealer of the party which had created this country.

Nisar said that he did not consider appropriate to respond to the people who have no credible bond with the party and had spent most of their time in other political parties.

Dubbing him (Pervaiz) a political pigmy, who had not contested elections even for the slot of even a councillor, became a self-styled leader of the party and was talking nonsense.

Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, in a veiled reference to the establishment, said that the former interior minister had paved the way of his ouster as information minister in the Dawn Leaks scandal to please someone.

Not holding Nawaz Sharif responsible for his ouster the former information minister said that actually he (Nawaz) was dragged to a situation where he was left with no choice but to seek his resignation.

Pervaiz suggested that the party’s leadership has to take some unanimous decision about Ch. Nisar Ali Khan adding that if he (Nisar) is the man of principles, he should himself leave the party owing to his sharp differences with the leadership.

Holding Pervaiz Rasheed responsible for the Dawn Leaks implicating Armed Forces of the country in ugly controversy, the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had removed him from Federal Cabinet on October 29 last year.

Later, Nawaz had also removed Tariq Fatemi, his special assistant on foreign affairs, and an officer of Information Group Rao Tahseen for their role in the information leak to Dawn newspaper, which was dubbed as a security breach as it attempted to taint the Armed Forces of the country. But unlike Pervaiz Rasheed who had not uttered a single word on the matter, both Fatemi and Tehseen had refused to accept the charges levelled against them.

Sources in the ruling PML-N informed The Nation that it was not the first time Pervaiz had attacked Nisar for deviating from the party’s policy and grilled him for his defiance within the party at times when the party was in hot waters.

These insiders said that actually it was the reflection of the mindset within the ruling PML-N taking a hostile position against the judiciary and other state institutions with the complete backing and blessing of party chief Nawaz Sharif, so anyone having counter narrative of not getting into clash with institutions is considered dissident.

The sources confirmed to The Nation that PML-N president Nawaz Sharif was not happy over the role of Ch. Nisar since his (Nawaz) disqualification by the apex court and he had mentioned it to several party leaders in his private conversation.