Arrest of ex-MNA’s son in Bajaur echoes in KP Assembly

PESHAWAR: The issue of arrest of a student from Bajaur district echoed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday as opposition members termed his detention and expulsion from the district a continuation of the black law of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

Shagufta Malik of the Awami National Party (ANP) through a call attention notice drew the House attention towards the arrest of Jalaluddin Khan, the son of former Member National Assembly (MNA) Shahabuddin Khan. The legislator said the deputy commissioner had illegally detained him. She said the government should explain whether the FCR was still intact in the merged tribal districts. The ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak said the way Jalaluddin Khan was detained showed the continuation of the policies to suppress the people. He said institutions were respectable but they should abide by the law of the land and Constitution as incidents like Jalaluddin’s arrest, Wednesday night incident in Mohmand and threats to a civil rights movement would increase sense of deprivation among Pakhtuns. They should realise that such policies cannot work anymore, he added.

Sardar Yousuf of the PPML-N said Jalaluddin was a student and putting him behind bars was tantamount to usurping the right of expression. He said the student was arrested and sent to Haripur and was not allowed even to contact his family. Condemning the arrest, he said it could be a conspiracy and the government should take notice of it and release him forthwith.Bahadur Khan from Lower Dir and Ahmad Kareem Kundi of the PPP also spoke on the issue. They said explanation should be called from the deputy commissioner as after merger the black law of FCR could no more be applied for keeping people silent. In his reply, Minister for Food Qalandar Khan Lodhi said Jalaluddin was not only a student but a landlord and belonging to an influential family. He said Jalaluddin was arrested under 3 MPO for sabotaging a public forum by the local administration. The minister said the case was now in the court but assured of taking the issue with the chief minister to get the youth released. Nighat Orakzai of the PPP on a point of order raised the issue of the presence of large-sized mice in Peshawar. She said the administration should be asked to take urgent steps for eradicating the mice before these cause the spread of diseases. The PPP MPA condemned the last night terrorist attack on Pak Army jawan at the border in North Waziristan and said nobody could stop Pakistan from fencing its border. Ahmad Kareem Kundi of the PPP through a call attention notice expressed concern over reported winding up of the Fata Development Authority. He said established in 2006, the authority had executed many development projects in the merged tribal districts.

He said it should be kept intact after redesigning. However, Food Minister Qalandar Lodhi said the matter had come to the cabinet but no decision about its winding up had been taken so far. The House also unanimously passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Youth Welfare Endowment Fund Bill, 2019 while deferred the KP Education Monitoring Authority Bill, 2019 due to the absence of the relevant minister before Speaker Mushtaq Ghani prorogued the session sine die.