Punjab Assembly: Sanaullah accused of obstructing Taseer’s recovery

Law minister says Taseer family on board over investigation.

LAHORE:

Pakistan Peoples Party’s Deputy Parliamentary Leader Shaukat Mehmood Basra on Monday demanded that Law Minister Rana Sanaullah be removed from his office over the government’s failure to recover Shahbaz Taseer. He said the PPP had no hope of Taseer’s recovery as long as Sanaullah was in office.

Speaking on a call attention notice, Basra said Sanaullah had been openly patronising banned militant organisations in the province. He said had it been Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s son who had been kidnapped in a similar manner the Inspector General of Punjab Police would have been suspended by now.

Responding to Basra’s remarks, Sanaullah said the police and a joint investigation team probing the kidnapping were in touch with the Taseer family. He said the family was being briefed on updates in the investigation. He claimed that the family was satisfied with government’s efforts.

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He said the details could not be disclose at this stage as that could jeopardise the investigation and put Taseer’s life in further danger.

Basra demanded that if details about the investigation could not be disclosed due to Taseer’s security the government should at least arrange a briefing on the issue for Opposition Leader Raja Riaz in his chamber. He said the Sharif family bore grudge against late Salmaan Taseer.

He said Taseer was assassinated following Sanaullah’s provocative statements against him.

Opposition Leader Raja Riaz said investigators should take into account Sharif family’s differences with late Salmaan Taseer as an important factor in Shahbaz Taseer’s kidnapping. The session was suspended for some time after PPP members boycotted in protest against Sanaullah’s statement that President Asif Ali Zardari be asked to testify that he had no role in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

Sanaullah was responding to Basra’s demand that the law minister clarify that he or the chief minister had no knowledge of Taseer’s abduction.

To a question seeking a deadline for Taseer’s recovery, the law minister said he would set a deadline if Interior Minister Rehman Malik agreed on one for the arrest of Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti’s murderers.

Sanaullah earlier informed the house that DIG (Investigation) Aamir Ali Malik was heading the police team investigating the case. He said once Taseer was recovered Shahbaz Sharif would himself come and disclose all details of the investigation to the House.

The session had started after a delay of an hour at around 4pm. The Parliamentary Secretary on Local Governments, Abdur Razzaq Dhillon, failed to respond to the questions concerning his department during the question hour. A Punjab Industrial and Commercial Employment (standing orders) Amendment Bill 2011 was also moved in the House. The session was later adjourned till Tuesday at 10am.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2011.