IG appears before PA committee

LAHORE: Punjab Inspector General Police (IGP) Shoaib Dastgir on Tuesday appeared before the Punjab Assembly’s special committee over the issue of police personnel’s maltreatment with PA Deputy Speaker Mir Dost Muhammad Mazari.

The special committee chaired by Speaker Ch Pervaiz Elahi discussed the incident in which deputy speaker’s staff was maltreated and disallowed entrance from GOR-1

Complaints lodged by MPAs Khalil Tahir Sindhu, Ali Hyder Gilani, Umar Tanvir Butt and others against police atrocities, maltreatment with common citizens and lack of cooperation from the officials were also conveyed to the IG who assured the speaker that all the rulings of the PA would be followed.

During the meeting, Law Minister Raja Basharat, Deputy Speaker Mir Dost Mohammed Mazari and other members of the committee were present.

Later, taking the Punjab Assembly into confidence, Speaker Ch Pervaiz Elahi said that the dignity of the House was more important than anything. He said complaints against police were surfacing, but PA respected its members and any such incident not only disrespected the PA, but also the government.

The speaker told the PA that all the matters were conveyed to the IG who had assured that the decisions taken by the House would be implemented.

He said the IG was also apprised about the incident of maltreatment of police with the members of Christian community in Faisalabad and the complaint lodged by MPA from Rawalpindi Umar Tanvir Butt.

The speaker remarked that the police behaviour in the case related to MPA Ali Gilani was regretful and didn’t convey a good message.

Malik Nadim Kamran, PML-N legislator on the occasion, supported to the speaker over the issue and stated it wasn’t the matter related to an individual, but to the entire dignity of the House.

Deputy Speaker Mir Dost Muhammad Mazari while speaking on the floor expressed gratitude to his colleagues for their support and said once again it had been proved that Parliament stands supreme.

He said anyone involved in disrespecting the House must not be spared and an example must be set out of this incident. The speaker also hailed Law Minister Raja Basharat for his role in protecting the dignity of the House.

The Punjab Assembly later took up questions related to School Educations in the question hour session and after the completion of agenda, the chair adjourned the session till Wednesday. Meanwhile, PPP leader Maula Bakhsh Chandiu called on Speaker Punjab Assembly in his chamber.

Talking to the media, Maula Bakhsh said he received same respect in Punjab which was shown to him in Sindh. He said the PPP always focused on core national issues instead of talking about regional politics and stated that just like his maternal grandfather Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also a far sighted politician. He said PPP underwent very turbulent phases but it survived and stated that its followers still existed in Punjab.

To a question, he said PML-N was also the part of Opposition benches in Senate and other assemblies and urged its leadership to play its role. He said Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, who declared everybody as thief, had himself been declared thief by the court.

Maula Bakhsh Chandiu said with every passing day, Imran Khan was becoming a liability for Pakistan and his government was run through TikTok and injections. Moreover, PML-N MPA Rana Mashood Ahmed while talking to the media outside Punjab Assembly demanded probe against Federal Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiyar, Faisal Vawda and PTI leader Jehangir Khan Tareen. He posed the question as to why action doesn’t initiate against them.