MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): A rift has emerged within the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) cabinet over the appointment of Minister for Sports Asim Sharif Butt, who has been declared a non-state subject.
According to sources, Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq has been trying to protect Butt, a close associate, by presenting a controversial draft to the cabinet.
Kashmir Digital learnt that the senior ministers of PM Anwarul Haq’s cabinet unknowingly signed the draft; however, on the identification of a PML-N minister, they erased the signatures.
Reliable sources said that during the cabinet meeting, on the instructions of the Prime Minister, the secretary, despite the clear orders of the Supreme Court, presented a controversial draft to the cabinet to protect Azad Kashmir’s non-state Minister for Sports Asim Sharif Butt.
The draft aimed to delegate powers to the Senior Member Board of Revenue to further investigate the decision of the Rehabilitation Commissioner, which declared Butt’s state subject as fake.
Asim Sharif Butt, just like PM Chuadhry, was elected on a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ticket and later left the party and became a minister.
Senior PML-N ministers, including Colonel (retd) Waqar Noor, Ahmed Raza Qadri, and Sardar Altaf, refused to sign the draft, citing its illegality and violation of state laws. The fourth PML-N minister, Raja Siddique, was not present at the cabinet meeting.
The Forward Bloc and PPP ministers, however, signed the draft, allowing it to be approved by a majority vote.
Sources said that this is the first refusal by the PML-N against any decision of the Prime Minister of the PTI Forward Bloc, highlighting the growing rift within the cabinet.
A PML-N minister, while talking to the Kashmir Digital, said that Asim Sharif Butt has been proven to be non-state and keeping him in the cabinet is an insult to the judiciary and state laws.
He said that we did not sign the draft according to the partisan policy. After the approval of this controversial draft by a majority vote, Asim Sharif Butt will be able to remain a minister for a few more months.
