Anguished: PTI calls for Rangers’ deployment in Punjab

Party leaders demand justice for the slain PTI worker

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday demanded that the provincial government ensure justice in the case of the killing of its worker Mirza Tanvir who had been shot dead a day earlier. The party also called for a Rangers operation in the province, particularly in Lahore.

Tanvir, a candidate for Union Council 33 chairman, had been the complainant in the murder case of his two brothers who had been killed during local government elections in Lahore last year.

PTI chairman Imran Khan issued a statement on Sunday calling for extending the ongoing Rangers operations in Karachi to Lahore in the wake of what he called “political target killings”. The statement goes on: “Punjab Police have been reduced to a militant wing of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.”

Following the murder on Saturday, some PTI workers had staged a protest demonstration at Shah Alam Chowk. Some workers later started a campaign on social media as #Justice for Tanvir.

PTI leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Jehangir Khan Tareen, too, condemned the killing on Sunday. They demanded that the provincial government ensure justice and stop political violence. Leader of Opposition in the Provincial Assembly Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and former governor Chaudhry Sarwar attended the funeral of Tanvir on Sunday. Sarwar accused the PML-N of trying to silence its opponents through use of violence.

“The PML-N went on a killing spree during local government elections… it is still ongoing,” he said. He said Tanvir had been fighting for justice following the murder of his two brothers. “The murder of Tanvir is the murder of justice, law and the Constitution,” he said. He said PML-N leaders were responsible for the murder. He warned against using police for suppressing political parties and their workers.

Rasheed demanded that Rangers be deployed across the Punjab, including Lahore where he said Punjab Police were at the disposal of the Sharifs. He said the provincial government had been unable to maintain order.

“Punjab Police have been dedicated to the security of only the incumbent rulers,” he said.

PTI central Punjab president Aleem Khan alleged that the provincial government was involved in the murder of Tanvir. “The surge in politically motivated murders across the province must be brought to an end,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd,  2016.