Dismayed politicians: Govt criticised for making Sanaullah minister

PTI says it will protest against appointment at budget session of Punjab Assembly

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) have criticised the government for making Rana Sanaullah a minister.

PAT chairman Tahirul Qadri said Sanaullah was involved in the killing of 14 people during riots in Model Town on June 17, 2014. He said the governor should not have administered the oath. Being a representative of the federal government, the governor could not close his eyes to such illegalities, he said.

“By making Sanaullah a minister, the government has violated all legal and moral norms,” Qadri said while addressing party workers via telephone. He said the government had shown no confidence in an inquiry conducted by Lahore High Court’s Justice Ali Baqar Najfi.

Qadri said the PAT wanted a JIT consisting of officers of good repute. He asked why suo motu notices were not taken in the cases involving the Sharifs. He requested the civil society, human rights defenders and lawyers to raise their voice against the killing of PAT activists.

The PAT chief asked his legal advisers to be prepared to pursue their case related to the Model Town deaths.

He also condemned terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia and in Mastung. “No one is safe in Balochistan. The government has failed to protect the citizens,” he said.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf

PTI leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed said the party would protest against Sanaullah’s appointment as a minister at the upcoming budget session of the Punjab Assembly.

He was leading a sit-in against the appointment in front the Punjab Assembly on Saturday. MPAs Murad Raas, Sadia Sohail, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Nosheen Hamid also joined the protest.

Rasheed said the PTI had rejected an investigation report on the Model Town unrest. He demanded that the government bring Justice Baqar Ali Najfi’s report to the fore. “Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah should resign to ensure a transparent inquiry into the riots,” he said. He said blaming a few police officials for the unrest was a joke.

“The government had promised a transparent inquiry into the matter but has failed to make Justice Baqar Ali Najfi’s report public. The report blames the Punjab government and Rana Sanaullah for the riots,” Rasheed said.

Iqbal said the provincial government was responsible for the Model Town violence. He said those responsible for the killings should be brought to justice to ensure that no such incident took place again.

Sunni Ittehad Council

SIC chairman Hamid Raza Khan said making Sanaullah a minister was the mockery of law. “It seems the government does not want to ensure justice for the families of those killed in Model Town,” he said. Raza stressed the need for solid steps to counter what he called India’s terrorist activities. He said the Taliban and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) were together carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2015.