Crime and lawmakers

When lawmakers themselves violate the law, and then do everything possible to escape justice, a terrible example is set in society and the concept of the rule of law slips a few notches further. This is what has happened in Punjab in the case of PML-N MNA Anjum Aqeel, wanted for his alleged involvement in the National Police Foundation scam that he had headed for some time. Aqeel, named in two FIRs dealing with the matter which charged him with fraud worth six billion in a land scandal, had dutifully enough been arrested by police on the night of July 15, and taken to the Shalimar Police Station. But he did not stay in custody long.

A horde of PML-N workers attacked the station, took Aqeel away after roughing up several policemen deployed at the facility. Aqeel is now absconding. In a statement that defies all credibility, Punjab Home Minister Rana Sanaullah has denied that PML-N workers were involved in the ‘rescue’ of the MNA and instead blamed ‘criminals’. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has condemned the incident, which follows a rather ominously familiar pattern. In the past too, the PML-N has been engaged in members accused of wrongdoing, including those who attempted to smuggle contraband items past customs or were accused of harassing a female constituent.

The party that speaks so strongly against corruption of all kinds is obviously not committed enough to this noble notion to back its ideas with deeds. The events at the Shalimar Police Station reveal a great deal about the PML-N and our society as a whole. The party likes to take the moral high ground in politics but its own members often do not act ethically. This has been proven again and again. The PML-N leadership needs to take up the matter, explain in realistic terms what really happened, and, most importantly of all, make a full effort to not only bring Anjum Aqeel to justice but also act against the workers responsible for a criminal act in their assault of the police, which was attempting only to enforce the law of the land.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2011.