On the floor of House: Kidnapped MPA in Mohmand, assembly told

Of six adjournment motions moved, five were kept pending.

LAHORE: Home Minister Colonel (r) Shuja Khanzada on Thursday informed the Punjab Assembly that MPA Jamil Hassan Khan, who was kidnapped on June 1, would be recovered soon.

Khanzada provided the information after Sardar Vickas Hasan Mokal expressed concern over the failure of the government to recover the MPA.

“If an elected representative is kidnapped and cannot be recovered, what does it say about the law and order situation?” he said.

He said it was important that MPA’s safe recovery be ensured and needs of his family were met.



Khan was elected from PP-174 Nankana Sahib.

Responding to MPA Mokal’s concerns, Khanzada said efforts for his safe release were underway.

“We have traced his kidnappers and it is believed that the MPA is currently in Mohmand Agency,” he said.

Khanzada said the kidnappers had ‘sold’ the MPA to a banned outfit.

He said the government had requested Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Yousuf Shah along with Professor Ibrahim Khan to negotiate with the kidnappers.

Questions regarding adulterated juices, sale of dead animals’ meat and expired milk were also taken up.

Parliamentary Secretary for Food Chaudhry Muhammad Asadullah said since 2012, 283 juice samples had been checked, of which 118 had passed.

According to data provided to the Assembly by the Food Department, between July 2012 and February 2014, as many as 2,771 samples of milk were tested in Lahore, of which 858 failed.

Legal action was taken against 800 milkmen.

As many as 531 premises had also been sealed for selling substandard milk. More than 43,000 litres was discarded.

Sardar Shahabuddin objected to the poor preparation of ministers and parliamentary secretaries.

“It is shameful that the preparation level of these members is such that papers are being passed from the galleries so that they can respond to our questions,” he said.

Chaudhry Amir Sultan Cheema drew the attention of the House towards the killing of a BCom student in Sargodha by the police.

“It is unacceptable that police is involved in such criminal acts,” he said.

The home minister said the matter was being investigated. He said two of the three accused had been arrested so far.

Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal said the inquiry should be conducted by another agency to ensure it was completely unbiased.

Six adjournment motions were moved, of which five were kept pending.

Sheikh Alauddin moved two adjournment motions; on unchecked pricing by wedding halls and medical students admitted beyond the number of allocated seats in the medical colleges by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

Hina Pervez Butt’s adjournment motion, regarding an incident involving the deaths of a woman and her daughter in an explosion in a rickshaw, was disposed of.

Adjournment motions by Chaudhry Amir Sultan Cheema and Khadija Umar on use of banned drugs by female student athletes at the Punjab University and withdrawal of taxes were kept pending.

Five reports were presented by Law Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman.

These included the annual performance reports of Punjab Baitul Maal for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013; annual reports of Faisalabad Development Authority, Gujranwala Development Authority, Rawalpindi Development Authority and Multan Development Authority for the year 2012-2013; annual reports of the Punjab Public Service Commission for the year 2012 and 2013; annual reports of Parks and Horticulture Authority Lahore for the year 2012-2013 and the annual report of Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority for the year 2011-2012.

The session will continue at 9am on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2014.