ISLAMABAD: While the police released on personal surety all the persons detained during a raid on the parliament lodges and booked for rioting and obstructing officials in discharge of duty, opposition parties on Friday submitted a privilege motion at the National Assembly Secre­tariat against the officers of the capital police and district administration for contempt of the assembly and breaching their privilege.

Also, Senator Kamran Murtaza of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) lodged a complaint at the Secretariat police station against the police and administration officers for what he said cordoning off the parliament lodges, breaking into the lodge of MNA Salahuddin Ayubi and taking people hostage.

In reaction to the police operation and subsequent release of JUI-F volunteers amid protests in different parts of the country, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, accompanied by Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif at a presser, threatened, “Imran Khan, listen, we can jam you, as we jammed the whole country yesterday in reaction to the police raid at parliament lodges.

“We are waging jihad against you [Imran Khan]. If the motion fails, the country will plunge into anarchy and you will be responsible for that. At any cost, we will move forward to remove him [the PM],” warned the Maulana, who also heads the nine-party opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), after the opposition leader called on him at his residence. However, he said, he believed the no-confidence motion against the premier would become successful.

According to the FIR registered at the Secretariat police station under Sections 186, 188, 147 and 149 of Pakistan Penal Code, police got information that 40 to 50 volunteers of JUI-F’s Ansar-ul-Islam, a banned outfit as per a 2019 Statutory Regulatory Order, were conducting a security drill and got control of the main gate of Parliament Lodges. It said the police obtained a search warrant from sub-divisional magistrate and reached the lodges along with him and a prison van on the information that the Ansar-ul-Islam volunteers in uniform were present inside Flat 401. The 40 to 50 volunteers found at the lodges were arrested amid confrontation, after negotiations failed, as the security of the parliament lodges had turned infective and the lives of parliamentarians were in grave danger due to their presence, it said. However, the police said, all the volunteers detained during the action were released on personal surety.

At the presser, the PDM chief questioned Prime Minister Khan “why you have lost temper and started abusing opposition. Such motions are often moved against rulers”. About the PM’s remarks that “animals are neutral”, the Maulana said the military establishment was ‘respectable for the opposition and neutral’. The “ISPR has given official statement yesterday but PM gave his reaction today,” he claimed.

Imran crossed all limits: Shehbaz

The PM had been using abusive words since the filing of the no-confidence motion against him, said Leader of Opposition Shehbaz Sharif, expressing his firm belief that the opposition move would be successful. He said the government was involved in worst kind of corruption ranging from the sugar and wheat flour crises to Liquefied Natural Gas and petrol scams. “We know that billions of rupees corruption money come to your house in sacks. The time is not far when the nation will make you accountable,” he added.

Mr Sharif said Mr Khan had crossed all boundaries with his incendiary and vulgar attacks on leaders of opposition parties. “Imran claims to be pious, but the entire country knows how he made billions through his ATMs who looted trillions in sugar scandal, flour theft, medicines and LNG.”

Privilege motion

In the privilege motion, the opposition parties wrote to the National Assembly Speaker that they would like to raise a question of breach of privilege of the august house and its members in accordance with Rule 95 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly, 2007. They claimed a heavy contingent of Islamabad police force along with senior district administration of ICT forcibly entered the parliament lodges and physically manhandled elected members of the parliament. In vicious act of police barbarity, police broke down doors and forcibly entered multiple lodges where members reside with their families, the privilege motion stated, adding that several lawmakers were injured in the ‘attack’ and were ‘illegally arrested’. It said the opposition parties believed since this savage act of police and district administration breached the privilege of lawmakers, they would like to raise a question of privilege against the interior minister, police and ICT administration officers.

It is requested that the question of privilege be allowed to be raised in the assembly for a decision on the ‘contempt’ of the House and ‘breach of privilege’ amounting to an offence as per established parliamentary practices and procedures.

Senator lodges complaint

While JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza also lodged a complaint against the officers of police and administration, the Secretariat police admitted that no action was taken on the complaint till the filing of this report on Friday evening.

The senator in his complaint claimed that during the raid when he inquired the raiding team about the warrants and NA Speaker’s permission for their action, they replied they had none. Instead, he added, the police attacked them and started dragging lawmakers and their guests. When legislators raised objection, the complaint said the police subjected them to torture causing injuries to Khwaja Saad Rafique, Rafiullah Shah and others. It said the police later ‘abducted’ legislators, including Salahuddin Ayubi and Jamaluddin.

Officials suspended

Over the entry of Ansar-ul-Islam’s volunteers in Parliament Lodges, four officials deployed at Radio Pakistan picket, an official in-charge at Parliament Lodges and a line officer of SSG were suspended, a police officer said, adding that the issue was being investigated by the senior superintendent of police (operations) to fix responsibility and establish facts.

A number of police officials and officers expressed concern and reservations over the suspension of the five police officers and holding of inquiry.

.Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2022