Reports of assembly dissolution is fake news: Speaker

Asad Qaiser says they are working with Saudi officials to extradite the killer of a medical student

PESHAWAR: Reports regarding the dissolution of assemblies were just baseless rumours.

This was stated by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser while speaking to the media after the convocation of Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology at a local hotel in Peshawar on Tuesday.

Asked about the investigations undertaken by the Mardan police into the brutal rape and murder of a minor girl earlier in the month and the chastisement the police received from the Supreme Court, the provincial assembly speaker said that his government is satisfied with the progress made in the case so far.

“It is a blind case as there is no evidence. The police cannot arrest anyone without any proofs in Asma case,” he shared.

Qaiser added that the girl’s parents had also expressed their satisfaction with police investigations thus far and are cooperate with officials.

“As compared to Zainab’s case, the Asma case is more complicated since there is no evidence,” he explained. He went to add that in Punjab, the police did not register an FIR for the brutal rape and murder of the girl in Kasur days after the incident took place and it took pressure from social media to force the government and the police to spring into action.

By comparison, Qaiser said that the police in Mardan started their investigations from the very first day.

“Soon, they [police] will arrest the real culprits,” the speaker said.

Asked about the case of a medical student murdered in Kohat, the assembly speaker said that they were working with the Saudi Embassy to track down the suspect and bring him to justice.

Earlier, Qaiser handed out 317 degrees to students of different disciplines as the Qurtuba University of Information Technology held its convocation.

Students of four sessions were awarded degrees including 10 for PhDs, 16 MPhils, 117 masters and 83 were bachelors. Similarly, 42 students were awarded gold medals and 39 students received certificates for excellent performance.

Qaiser said that the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has worked very hard on the education sector and that soon all universities in the province will be financially stable.

“As compared to the previous government, the incumbent provincial government has done historic work in the fields of education,” Qaiser claimed.

Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology President Muhammad Abdul Hafiz Niazi said that the promotion of education in every corner of the province was their mission and that they were trying their best to provide quality education in every district.

He congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to play their vital role in the uplift of the country.

Talking to The Express Tribune, students strongly condemned the brutal murder of the medical student from Kohat and rising cases of sexual abuse against children in K-P. They demanded that the government take tangible steps to prevent such crimes in the province.

They also demanded to give exemplary punishment to the killer of the medical student.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2018.