ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari on Saturday said he would take legal action against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Khawaja Asif over allegations that he facilitated the return of pilgrims from Taftan before the completion of the quarantine period.
“It’s a blatant lie,” he said in an interview with the Voice of America.
Zulfi Bukhari said he had nothing to do with the matter of the Pakistani pilgrims, who were placed in the quarantine at the Taftan border.
Referring to the repatriation of some 15,000 Pakistani Umrah pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, he said the same policy was adopted in Iran’s case.
The Balochistan government had decided to allow entry of some 5,000 Pakistani pilgrims at the Taftan border as they were out-stamped by the Iranian authorities. A responsible state could not leave its people abandoned under the open sky, he added.
The quarantine facility was arranged for the pilgrims at Taftan to contain the coronavirus spread, he added.
The special assistant said there was no comparison between the issue of Pakistani students stranded in China and evacuation of the pilgrims from Iran. The federal government had initiated the process for airlifting those Pakistanis who were stranded at various world airports.
“Evacuation of stranded Pakistanis on foreign soil is the top priority of the government,” he added.
