Keep walking: JUI-F storms out of assembly session over CM’s remarks
Lutfur Rehman says JUI-F protest has no relation to PTI sit-in.
PESHAWAR:
Opposition members staged a walkout from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session on Monday over Chief Minister Pervez Khattak’s remarks from a day earlier. Khattak had said the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl was trying to sabotage Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s protest in Islamabad by holding its own demonstration.
The issue was raised by K-P Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman through a point of order at the start of the session. He drew the attention of the house towards his party’s Sindh chapter general secretary’s murder in Sukkur early Saturday morning.
Rehman said his party members were being targeted due to the stand they had taken in favour of democracy, the Constitution, Islam and Pakistan. “Those raising their voice are being silenced,” he said, adding nothing could stop JUI-F members from speaking their minds.
Rehman objected to the chief minister’s remarks, saying Khattak’s outburst against his party lacked sense. “You people can stage sit-ins for over a hundred days and celebrate, but cannot tolerate the demonstrations of others,” he said.
The JUI-F leader said this brand of politics was beyond comprehension. Rehman pointed out that on one hand PTI threatened to shut down the whole of Pakistan, while on the other it could not tolerate the protests of others.
Rehman dispelled the notion that the JUI-F protest had any relation to PTI’s Islamabad protest. “The protest following Dr Khalid Soomro’s murder was spontaneous and we could not have waited a week for it,” he said.
Taking a jibe at PTI Chairperson Imran Khan, he said Khattak’s comments were perhaps inspired by the language used by his party chief against opponents.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha also condemned the killing of the JUI-F leader as well as Khattak’s remarks. He suggested the chief minister should compose himself before making any such statements.
Similarly, Pakistan Peoples Party parliamentary leader Mohammad Ali Shah Baacha regretted the language used atop PTI’s container in the Islamabad sit-in.
Qaumi Watan Party’s Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli said the words uttered by Khattak were nonsensical. She said it appeared as if someone had told an otherwise composed chief minister to issue such a statement and create chaos on the floor of the house.
Tahirkheli said Khattak should have contacted the opposition leader to defuse the situation and suggested other members also stage a walkout. ANP’s Syed Jaffer Shah chimed in, saying badmouthing the political leadership was against democracy.
When Speaker Asad Qaiser gave the floor to Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman to defend the opposition’s criticism, Peshawar PTI President Yasin Khalil stood up and asked that he be allowed to speak on this issue.
Yasin asked the minister to explain where the police and district administration were when JUI-F workers kept roads blocked from dawn till dusk in different parts of the province. He also enquired whether an FIR has been registered against JUI-F leaders for closing roads and creating a nuisance for the public.
In his response, Shah Farman said PTI was ready to join an all-parties’ protest against the JUI-F Sindh leader’s killing. He said they were expecting workers of the religious party to allow PTI activists to proceed to Islamabad out of political courtesy.
Farman said the chief minister contacted the opposition leader and asked him to allow PTI workers through. “We showed greater restraint; thus helping defuse the situation,” he said.
However, opposition members staged a walkout following Farman’s speech and did not return to the house. The speaker then asked Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan, Minister for Law Imtiaz Shahid and Ziaullah Afridi to woo the opposition. However, the opposition members did not return after the break, after which the speaker adjourned the session till Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the house also demanded a probe into the theft of oil and gas at Karak. The resolution was jointly moved by opposition and treasury lawmakers who asked the MOL Company to share details of losses accrued in lieu of pilferage extending over a period of eight months.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2014.
Opposition members staged a walkout from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session on Monday over Chief Minister Pervez Khattak’s remarks from a day earlier. Khattak had said the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl was trying to sabotage Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s protest in Islamabad by holding its own demonstration.
The issue was raised by K-P Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman through a point of order at the start of the session. He drew the attention of the house towards his party’s Sindh chapter general secretary’s murder in Sukkur early Saturday morning.
Rehman said his party members were being targeted due to the stand they had taken in favour of democracy, the Constitution, Islam and Pakistan. “Those raising their voice are being silenced,” he said, adding nothing could stop JUI-F members from speaking their minds.
Rehman objected to the chief minister’s remarks, saying Khattak’s outburst against his party lacked sense. “You people can stage sit-ins for over a hundred days and celebrate, but cannot tolerate the demonstrations of others,” he said.
The JUI-F leader said this brand of politics was beyond comprehension. Rehman pointed out that on one hand PTI threatened to shut down the whole of Pakistan, while on the other it could not tolerate the protests of others.
Rehman dispelled the notion that the JUI-F protest had any relation to PTI’s Islamabad protest. “The protest following Dr Khalid Soomro’s murder was spontaneous and we could not have waited a week for it,” he said.
Taking a jibe at PTI Chairperson Imran Khan, he said Khattak’s comments were perhaps inspired by the language used by his party chief against opponents.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha also condemned the killing of the JUI-F leader as well as Khattak’s remarks. He suggested the chief minister should compose himself before making any such statements.
Similarly, Pakistan Peoples Party parliamentary leader Mohammad Ali Shah Baacha regretted the language used atop PTI’s container in the Islamabad sit-in.
Qaumi Watan Party’s Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli said the words uttered by Khattak were nonsensical. She said it appeared as if someone had told an otherwise composed chief minister to issue such a statement and create chaos on the floor of the house.
Tahirkheli said Khattak should have contacted the opposition leader to defuse the situation and suggested other members also stage a walkout. ANP’s Syed Jaffer Shah chimed in, saying badmouthing the political leadership was against democracy.
When Speaker Asad Qaiser gave the floor to Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman to defend the opposition’s criticism, Peshawar PTI President Yasin Khalil stood up and asked that he be allowed to speak on this issue.
Yasin asked the minister to explain where the police and district administration were when JUI-F workers kept roads blocked from dawn till dusk in different parts of the province. He also enquired whether an FIR has been registered against JUI-F leaders for closing roads and creating a nuisance for the public.
In his response, Shah Farman said PTI was ready to join an all-parties’ protest against the JUI-F Sindh leader’s killing. He said they were expecting workers of the religious party to allow PTI activists to proceed to Islamabad out of political courtesy.
Farman said the chief minister contacted the opposition leader and asked him to allow PTI workers through. “We showed greater restraint; thus helping defuse the situation,” he said.
However, opposition members staged a walkout following Farman’s speech and did not return to the house. The speaker then asked Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan, Minister for Law Imtiaz Shahid and Ziaullah Afridi to woo the opposition. However, the opposition members did not return after the break, after which the speaker adjourned the session till Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the house also demanded a probe into the theft of oil and gas at Karak. The resolution was jointly moved by opposition and treasury lawmakers who asked the MOL Company to share details of losses accrued in lieu of pilferage extending over a period of eight months.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2014.