‘Pack of Lies’: Naveed Qamar condemns Gul Plaza fire to target 18th Amendment

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Naveed Qamar on Wednesday strongly criticised comments made by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s parliamentary leader Khawaja Asif regarding the 18th Constitutional Amendment, accusing the government of using the recent Gul Plaza fire in Karachi as a pretext to target the amendment.

Raising a point of order during the National Assembly session, Qamar said the tragedy had been dragged into a constitutional debate in order to “abuse” the 18th Amendment. He said remarks made by Khawaja Asif should be viewed as an official government position, particularly as another federal minister had again questioned the amendment on the same day.

Qamar stressed that Pakistan is a federal state and warned against what he described as attempts to experiment with the country’s constitutional structure. “Do you want to conduct yet another experiment?” he asked, cautioning that such moves could have serious consequences.

He argued that a strong Pakistan could only be built through strong provinces and questioned whether the federal government intended to roll back resources already devolved under the amendment. He also criticised the idea of provinces cutting spending on health and education to fund federal borrowing.

Referring to historical distortions, Qamar said generations had been taught a “pack of lies” through manipulated curricula and altered history. He warned that jeopardising the country’s future for political gains would be a grave mistake.