Police storm Parliament Lodges, scuffle with JUI-F volunteers

Fazl calls countrywide protest as JUI-F private militia takes to street

ISLAMABAD:

A verbal slugfest between the government and the opposition turned violent on Thursday after the Islamabad police raided the Parliament Lodges to arrest the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) volunteers, who had entered the building on the pretext of providing security to the lawmakers.

The police action came after members of Ansarul Islam, a uniformed volunteer force of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), entered the Parliament Lodges in large numbers.

The government described the uniformed volunteer force of the JUI-F, Ansarul Islam, as a “private militia” and backed the police on storming the Parliament Lodges and arresting JUI-F MNA Salahuddin Ayubi, MNA Maulana Jamaluddin and 19 others.

In a press conference later on, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that no MNAs were arrested but they themselves were sitting at the police station. The opposition, however, slammed the police’s action and the manhandling of the lawmakers.

The incident happened just days after the opposition filed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly Secretariat. Since then, the political situation has heated up as both sides have been giving fiery speeches and statements against each other.

The opposition parties severely criticised the government and condemned the police for “forcibly” entering the lodges along with officials of the district administration, violating the sanctity of lawmakers’ homes and manhandling the Members of National Assembly (MNAs) and senators.

Raising a question of breach of privilege of lawmakers, the opposition parties urged the National Assembly speaker that the question of privilege “may be allowed” to be raised in the house over the police action as it amounted to an offence under the parliamentary practices and procedures.

Earlier, chaotic scenes were witnessed at the Parliament Lodges shortly after Ayubi’s staff and police personnel clashed, as the law enforcement personnel reportedly broke the door of the MNA’s room to arrest him and others.

Soon, several Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentarians also gathered at the Parliament Lodges, while the JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman also reached there to surrender himself before the police.

Talking to the media, Fazl urged all his party workers to reach the Parliament Lodges as soon as possible, saying that the “government wants to abduct the opposition’s MNAs by arresting them” to reduce their numbers during the assembly session on the no-confidence motion.

“I will surrender myself along with some of my friends,” he said, urging all workers of his party to reach Islamabad as soon as possible. “I request all the party workers to block roads and shut down businesses,” Fazl added.

Before coming to the Parliament Lodges, Fazl took to Twitter to claim that police wanted to “abduct” his party’s lawmakers and that his volunteers had arrived at the lodges to protect them. He added that his party wanted to “provide security to the MNAs itself”.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that all private militias were dissolved in 2019 and now no one was allowed to keep such a force anymore, saying that the government would also stop those who wanted to come out on the roads.

Referring to Fazl’s call for street protests, Rashid warned that no one should take the law into their hands, otherwise action would be taken. He added that he had directed all the chief secretaries and the inspectors general of police to take action against anyone taking law into their hands.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the presence of JUI-F’s force at the Parliament Lodges was “condemnable by all aspects”, adding that the “armed group” had reached Parliament Lodges to put pressure on parliamentarians.

Under the law, Information Minister Chaudhry said, no private organisation capable of functioning as a military organisation was allowed.

Opposition Leader and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif demanded immediate release of detained JUI-F workers, while condemning the police operation. Shehbaz said that raiding the residence of members of parliament was dictatorship and fascism.

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Shehbaz accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of taking the country towards chaos, because of the opposition’s no-confidence motion against him.

Former president Asif Zardari condemned police brutality at the Parliament lodges and the manhandling of parliamentarians. In a statement, Zardari said that the “puppet prime minister is harassing the members of parliament using terror”

Zardari said that attempts were being made to intimidate not only JUI-F lawmakers but all the parliamentarians. “Police officers and administration should not follow illegal orders of puppets,” he said. He urged the lawmakers to keep their spirits high.

In another statement, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the attack on parliamentarians could not be tolerated. “This police attack is proof that Imran Khan is panicking,” Bilawal said, “Imran Khan, enough is enough,” he warned.

Bilawal said that Imran’s effort to scare lawmakers through police were in vain. “History has repeated itself as this attack is reminiscent of the attack on PTV” in 2014, he said. Bilawal added that families of the parliamentarians live in the lodges and the prime minister breached the sanctity of their homes.

Protests

Hours later, JUI-F workers blocked roads in various parts of the country. The JUI-F activists held protest sit-ins on three main thoroughfares of Karachi – Super Highway, Hub River Road and National Highway. A spokesman said that the protest would continue till their leadership announced a future strategy.

Charged JUI-F workers also took to the roads and highways in Balochistan to vent their anger over “the arrest” of the National Assembly member Maulana Salahuddin Ayubi, and others. They blocked the national highways across the province.

“Our protest will continue till the release of our MNAs and workers”, Maulana Wasey, the JUI F Balochistan chief said. “We will not bow down before rulers”, he said. “Our workers will make sure the removal of rulers”, added Ainullah Shams, a former Balochistan minister and JUI-F leader.

Because of the roadblocks, people faced difficulties in reaching their destinations. A large number of JUI-F workers also blocked main Manan Chowk in Quetta to protest against the police action at the Parliament Lodges.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) announced countrywide strike on Friday (today) to protest against “illegal and unlawful maltreatment” of its former president Senator Kamran Murtaza.

In a statement, SCBA President Ahsan Bhoon condemned the Islamabad police’s “blatant and gruesome baton charge and arrest of the senior lawyer” on the “wish and whim” of the ruling elite. It said that several lawmakers also sustained injuries in the clashes outside the Parliament Lodges.

SCBA condemned the police operation “without any justified reason” against the suspects related to the Ansar-ul-Islam. It demanded immediate apology from the government and the “elements” involved in the incident and the release of all detained persons, including Senator Murtaza.