BAHAWALPUR: Supporters of the demand for restoration of Bahawalpur province on Tuesday took out rallies in the city against the South Punjab Province Front.

The participants in the rallies mostly belonged to old groups that had been demanding restoration of Bahawalpur province under the leadership of former federal minister Muhammad Ali Durrani and Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi, the chief of Bahawalpur National Awami Party (BNAP). Both of them have left Bahawalpur.

In the absence of the two leaders, the activists were being mostly led by political non-entities.

The rallies brought out from different parts of the city converged at the Farid Gate where old workers like Akram Ansari and a new entrant to the movement, Yousaf Abbasi delivered fiery speeches condemning the ruling PML-N for their failure to honour its pledge to restore Bahawalpur province.

They said the Front leaders should not demand south Punjab province at the cost of Bahawalpur province, which had been a provincial unit before its disintegration.

They also lashed out at ex-MPA Samiullah Chaudhry whose wife PML-N MPA Sumera Samiullah was also among those who announced quitting the party on Monday at a press conference.

The speakers condemned Mr Samiullah for changing his stance and backing the demand for south Punjab province instead of Bahawalpur province.

Mr Samiullah was considered an old guard of the PML-N in south Punjab. He was information secretary of the party’s Punjab chapter, had been chairman of Saaf Pani Company and a member of the Board of Directors of Bahawalpur Waste Management Company (BWMC).

In the last tenure of Shahbaz Sharif, Mr Samiullah was an adviser to the chief minister and enjoyed perks from the Punjab government.

According to sources, Mr Samiullah decided to quit the PML-N after being denied the party ticket for Senate last month. His wife MPA Sumera Samiullah was also supporting the South Punjab Province Front to make room for herself and her husband in the rebel group ahead of upcoming general election, the sources added.

Former MNA Tahir Cheema from Chishtian tehsil of Bahawalnagar district, is brother of PML-Q MNA Tariq Cheema, who had been twice elected Bahawalpur district nazim during Musharraf regime. He is now secretary-general of PML-Q. Tariq Cheema is close to Chaudhrys of Gujrat who gave him the party slot to replace former secretary general Mushahid Hussain Syed, who later joined the PML-N.

In 2013 Tahir Cheema contested election on the PML-N ticket. He had been Chishtian tehsil nazim during Musharraf regime.

LHC CJ: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Yawar Ali has underlined the need to provide justice to the litigants saying justice makes a society prosperous.

Addressing the High Court Bar Association here on Tuesday, he said the Bar and the Bench were like a body and both jointly work to ensure justice in society. He said a comprehensive planning had been made to provide equal facilities to the subordinate judiciary.

Later, the chief justice inaugurated the secretariat of district judiciary in the district courts, where District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Tariq Javed welcomed him and apprised him of the facilities being provided to the litigants in the local courts.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2018