Punjab accords white glove treatment to PML-N

Following a probe into the PML-N’s claim that an FIR was lodged against those who had stopped and “heckled” its president Shehbaz Sharif during a visit to the Kahana constituency, it has surfaced that a “white-gloved” treatment was accorded by the Punjab police to the party and the document in question was registered on a complaint by a sub-inspector over a general blockage of a road with no mention of the incident.

The PML-N president was visiting the constituency on October 4 as part of the party’s campaign to build a momentum prior to its supremo Nawaz Sharif’s arrival, during which his convoy was stopped and “heckled” in Kahana.

The video of the incident went viral and left a bitter taste for the PML-N, which was already struggling with the momentum-building exercise primarily to the poor economic performance of its outgoing government.

Other than the social media damage inflicted by the optics, this incident was not extraordinary by any means.

Strangely to teach a lesson to those who had “heckled” Shehbaz, an FIR was lodged but not on a complaint of a party activist or a leader, instead the police themselves became the complainant.

To further isolate the party from the incident, not a single word of it was mentioned in the FIR.

Instead, the FIR stated that around 80 to 90 unidentified people had blocked Ferozepur Road and resisted the police who tried to clear the thoroughfare. To further add context, the FIR read that these people had set up a protest camp alongside Ferozepur Road at Kahana precincts.

The matter was exposed when the PML-N itself announced that Shehbaz had the FIR registered against those, who had stopped his vehicle, quashed.

A statement issued by PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb read that Shehbaz, on receiving the information of the FIR, contacted the capital city police officer and had the case quashed, informing him that such an incident had never taken place.
It quoted Shehabz as saying that the FIR was quashed.

The statement added that the PML-N president then called those who had stopped his car the next day, listened to their complaints and addressed their issues.

The incident was being used to spread propaganda, it added.

Kahana SHO Sardar Muhammad Afzal, when contacted, said that it was a completely normal practice to register an FIR in such a manner. He added that the officer who had registered the complaint must have witnessed the incident, which had been stated in the FIR.

He was asked why the incident was not mentioned in the FIR and why did the police become the complainant. The SHO replied that under Article 154 of the CrPC, anyone could become a complainant, so the police becoming one was not unusual.

About the incident, he maintained that the officer who had the FIR registered must have had a good enough reason to do so. When asked about quashment of the FIR, the officer replied that the investigation wing would know about it.

Asp Khana Circle Dr Saad Afridi, when asked about the fate of the FIR, its content and why the police had become the complainant, sought time to reply and did not respond to The Express Tribune as he had assured.

According to those in the know, the privilege treatment does not end at the FIR. A resident informed The Express Tribune that after the incident, the people mentioned in the FIR had actually met Shehbaz to complain about the encroachment of Rohi Nullah by private societies.

These people belonged to Puaran Kahana and the adjoining Shehzad Village. They had erected a protest camp alongside Ferozepur Road on the sidewalk to demand the former premier to have the encroachment removed to improve the drainage of sewage water from their areas.

Almost immediately after the meeting with the former premier, the resident said, the Lahore deputy commissioner and Model Town assistant commissioner visited the area to take stock of the situation and a sewerage line project was initiated between Purana Kahana and Sue Asal.

The resident said the work on that project had already kicked off by the government to assuage the people.

The Express Tribune could not verify from the police if the FIR had actually been quashed or not and the ASP’s reply was still awaited until the filing of this report.