Barbs flew in the Senate on Friday as the incarcerated PTI leader Shahbaz Gill, who made controversial statements during a TV show last week, again became the point of contention between the treasury and opposition lawmakers, forcing the latter to stage a walkout.
The opposition senators staged a walkout against the alleged torture of Shahbaz Gill and surrounded the chairman’s dais while raising slogans against the “fascist government”.
The escalating situation prompted Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to adjourn the session for an indefinite period.
To mark their protest, the opposition came to the upper house with black bands on their arms.
Leader of Opposition Dr Shahzad Waseem said that for the past two days, the house has been discussing the human rights situation and the “fascist tactics” of the government. He said that by picking up Gill from the hospital to put him in a cell only to present him before the court, the government had recorded a “new history of cruelty”.
Waseem highlighted how Gill kept on gasping for breath, crying that he could not breathe while demanding oxygen. “This is the worst example of inhumane treatment. The medical report is all over the media revealing what the situation is,” he added.
The opposition leader said that the PTI leader has a history of illness and also mentioned that when Gill’s treatment started, no one was allowed to visit him.
“The medical report says Shahbaz Gill’s respiratory tract was constricted,” he added. “You are making people an example; I salute Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar for telling the truth,” Wasim said. “For the sake of God, do politics, do a fair trial, but do not make fun of human rights.”
He pointed out that the torture bill was presented yesterday to get help from the European Union. “This is a test case,” he remarked.
Federal Minister Sherry Rehman, while expressing her opinion, said that the report has been submitted to the court. “There was no violence, if there was violence, it will be investigated,” she added.
However, she brushed aside concerns of torture actually taking place.
“The pictures that were shown to us depict no signs of torture,” she said while speaking in the Senate on Friday. “But if Gill has been tortured, we will surely investigate it.”
PTI senators started protesting during Sherry’s speech. They surrounded the chairman’s dais and expressed their disapproval of the government’s approach. They also raised slogans in favour of Khokhar.
Meanwhile, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, while speaking in the house, said that the opposition had gone to the extremes of cruelty and politics of revenge while they were in power as they remanded people for 90 days. He said that the medical report did not prove torture.
“They are worried because they lost power,” he said. “You and your party are national criminals; Nawaz Sharif and his daughter were handcuffed.” “Three times innocent Ahsan Iqbal was kept in jail,” he pointed out. He wondered why the PTI’s “honour had woken up" today while they did not have the courage to speak in front of their leader back then.
As Abbasi spoke, the opposition continued to protest, leading to the adjournment of the meeting.
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