Nabbing the NAB

IT should not be that hard to predict what led the Senate to pass a resolution on Friday seeking the disbandment of NAB: of late some NAB officials roughed up PPP Senator Safdar Ali Abbasi and dragged him in front of their office premises in Rawalpindi. This is just one indication of the bureau’s mindset of thinking that it has a right to abuse power, while presuming that it could easily get away with all sorts of irregularities. While Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro has rightly called for stern action against those involved, the country would only be better off without this institution. Firstly, the bureau had a political orientation from the very beginning. The fact that it was politically motivated and was used to suppress voices of dissent by President Musharraf cannot be simply brushed aside. A number of political leaders belonging to the opposition were charged with fabricated cases and put behind bars. According to former PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, President Musharraf had used NAB to gain political objectives. In a letter addressed to the party workers she had referred to the NAB and the intelligence agencies as the twin pillars of the new order of dictatorship.