Waiting on the judicial commission: No one will be allowed to establish a fiefdom says Sana

Opposition benches boycott assembly proceedings.

LAHORE:

“All no-go zones in the province, including Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri’s fiefdom in Model Town, will be abolished,” Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan reiterated at the Punjab Assembly session on Wednesday.

The opposition benches continued their vociferous protest against police action. Sanaullah apprised the house about the latest developments on the matter.

He said the government would not allow anyone in the province to declare no-go zones. If citizens placed barriers on public property for security reasons, they must be guarded by the Punjab Police only, he said.

“If anyone chooses to deploy civil militia on barriers, the government has given law enforcement agencies a free hand in taking over the barriers,” he said.

“In this case, the local administration and police decided to remove the barriers in front of Qadri’s house and the Minhaj International Secretariat because they were being guarded by Qadri’s civil militia.”

He said that it was yet to be ascertained how the situation had escalated, leading to the deaths of eight people. An independent judicial commission would decide who was responsible for the tragedy and answer the several questions that had risen, he said.

Sanaullah said that the commission would probe the clash between police and Qadri’s followers and see if the police had faced resistance and had retaliated to being shot. He said he had been told that the police had been pelted with stones by PAT workers for up to four hours.

He said according to one of the reports he had received, the first casualties had occurred at around 11:45pm. One report says the causalities were the result of a cross fire, the other says the police had shot straight at them, and a third report states that a person was killed by Qadiri’s own supporters.

He said he had also received a report that said that the clash had been a result of provocative speeches and social media campaign by Tahirul Qadri in which he incited his followers to revolt against the government even if it meant sacrificing their lives. He said the judicial commission would probe the issue and decide who was guilty.

Responding to the opposition’s snide remarks about the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz, Sanaullah said the politically orphaned alliance of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, PAT and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid would break apart as haven’t sacrificed anything for democracy or rule of law in the country.

Leader of Opposition Mian Mehmoodur Rashid said the opposition benches would boycott the session and observe a day of mourning in response to the government’s absurd attitude towards the killing of eight of the PAT’s workers. He said instead of paying attention to serious concerns that could pose a threat to democracy, that treasury had displayed unpardonable carelessness in response to the tragedy.

He said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif should appear before the house and explain what happened. The opposition then boycotted the proceedings.

The treasury benches chanted the slogan, “Don’t politicise deaths”.

The speaker asked two provincial ministers to convince the opposition to return to the house. The opposition returned briefly to blame the government for attacking Minhajul Quran workers and boycotted the proceedings completely.

Zarb-e-Azb

While the opposition boycotted the session, Sanaullah moved a resolution in support of the military operation in North Waziristan. It was passed by the treasury.  The resolution states that the house supported and endorsed the Pakistan Army’s operation, Zarb-e-Azb, against terrorists. The house appreciated the prime minister’s judgement and timely decision in this regard and expressed solidarity with the army.

Budget discussion

The third day of discussion on the budget continued. The treasury presented their points while opposition boycotted the proceeding. The speaker adjourned the session till Thursday morning.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2014.