Venkatesh Iyer
NEW DELHI, Sept 4: A Special Assistant to Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting, Asim Saleem Bajwa, on Friday announced his decision to step down from the position amidst charges of corruption levelled against him by a journalist in ‘Fact Focus,’ an internet site, on August 27.
He made the announcement during the course of a conversation with Pakistan’s Geo News. A Former Retired Lieutenant General of Pakistan, Bajwa said he would submit his resignation to the Prime Minister with the request to relieve him at the earliest.
He, however, said he would continue as the chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor since he shared his views with the prime minister that the CPEC was the future of Pakistan and required due priority.
Bajwa yesterday had issued a four-page rejoinder through a press release in microblogging site Twitter strongly rejecting the allegation. “I strongly rebut the baseless allegations levelled against me and my family. It was another attempt to damage our reputation which had been belied/exposed. I have and will always serve Pakistan with pride and dignity,” he claimed.
Charges of corruption were levelled by Ahmed Noorani, a Pakistani Journalist in ‘fact Focus’ website. The charges were based on the signing of testimony on assets and liabilities by Bajwa in June providing details about his and his family members’ assets. He had joined as SAPM in April.
The news report alleged that Bajwa provided inaccurate details. It detailed how the proximity to those in power had helped him to accumulate million dollars worth of properties and business by him, his wife, his three sons and his five brothers in both Pakistan and three other countries, UAE, US and Canada.
@factFocusFF team, however, is holding on to their version stating “as it’s evident that the documents uploaded by #FactFocus along with its story are certified true copies and are obtained legally from CRO offices of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) by following their prescribed process”.
Immediately after Bajwa’s tweet, the @factFocusFF team had tweeted “we stand by our journalism and today’s statement by General (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa proves every single point made by our story right. Our data dump is comprehensive and we will continue to work on this data.”