• Plainclothesmen storm Parliament House early on Tuesday, round up PTI MNAs after disconnecting power
• In sitting held hours after ‘arrests’, opposition leaders term ‘raid’ an attack on democracy
• PPP lawmakers call for action to build deterrence; PML-N men say PTI reaping what it sowed
• Speaker summons police chief, seeks CCTV footage for ‘evidence-based’ action

ISLAMABAD: An unpr­­e­cedented raid by plainclothesmen in the early hours of Tuesday to flush out PTI lawmakers taking refuge in the National Assembly provoked a war of words in the lower house, before culminating in unanimous condemnation of the act from both sides of the aisle.

The assembly, co­n­vened around eight hours after plainclothesmen stormed the building just after 3am — disconne­c­ting the power supply and barging into the Ser­vices Branch of Parliament House to whisk away the PTI legislators.

Sources told Dawn that a well-equipped police contingent, led by SSP Operations Ars­a­lan Jaha­n­zeb, had been deployed outside Parlia­m­ent House for hours before some unmarked vehicles arri­ved on the scene. This was followed by the disconnection of electricity to the parliament building.

Subsequently, MNAs Zain Qureshi, Amir Dogar, Sheikh Waqqas Akram, and Naseem Ali Shah along with others were brought out from Parliament House and handed over to police for legal action.

Three of the four vehicles subsequently left the premises and the MNAs were bundled into different cars. After this episode, the power supply was restored and the ‘under custody’ MNAs were brought out of the building through the Cabinet Division gate, where they were ‘rearrested’ by the police. The detained lawmakers were later moved to the CIA Centre.

Tempers flare in NA

In the wake of this episode, tempers flared in the lower house during Tuesday’s sitting, with lawmakers demanding action against those who invaded Parlia­ment House to round up their colleagues, against laws and parliamentary traditions.

At the outset of the session, which started around noon, PTI leader Ali Mohammad Khan was livid with the treatment meted out to his fellow MNAs.

He said what happened to parliament and democracy last night was a black chapter in the parliamentary history of the country. “We are not in Israel, we are in Pakistan,” he added.

He said Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Shafqat Awan, Amir Dogar, Shiekh Waqqas Akram and Maulana Naseem were seeking shelter in parliament on Monday night when they were arrested, adding that Maulana Naseem was picked up while praying.

He questioned who the ‘masked men’ were who entered Parliament House and took lawmakers away.

“This is an attack on democracy and on Pakistan’s Constitution,” the PTI leader said.

Speaking during the session, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai said the arrests from parliament proved that the battle between democratic and anti-democratic forces was not a secret anymore.

PPP leader Naveed Qamar said a ‘red line’ had been crossed and there was a need to build deterrence against such actions, while Manzoor Ali Talpur said what had happened must not happen in future.

Though the PML-N members also opposed the late-night incursion, Rana Tanveer and Khawaja Asif used the occasion to criticise the PTI for its actions, such as the 2014 sit-in outside Parliament House.

Federal Minister for Industries Rana Tanveer said the PTI leaders used objectionable language against institutions during a rally at Sangjani.

“Pakistan’s integrity, unity and Constitution’s status was challenged. What do you expect after that?” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif asked.

He said that none of the PTI’s protests match democratic values, according to Dawn.com. He said if yesterday’s incident was isolated, there would have been objections, calling it a “chain of incidents”. He said the crackdown on the PTI was a reaction to the remarks made in the Sept 8 rally in Sangjani.

“On May 9, only military targets were chosen. Those targets were insulted. Can any constitutional or moral protection be claimed?”

NA speaker seeks report

In light of the outcry, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq ordered an immediate and complete investigation into the arrests from parliament and production of the detained members in the parliament.

He said a stand had to be taken over what happened on Monday night and assured that action would be taken against those responsible for entering parliament. Declaring that he would lodge an FIR, if need be, he immediately sought footage from all entry gates of the Parliament House for evidence-based action.

The speaker also held deliberations with parliamentary leaders and members of the lower house. During the meeting, he said there would be no compromise on the dignity and prestige of parliament.

It was decided to formulate some rules of the game to avoid the recurrence of such incidents in future.

According to a statement released by the National Assembly’s media wing, members called for strict action against those responsible during the meeting.

Later, the speaker also summoned the Islamabad police chief to his chamber to get details of the arrests and directed him to produce the detained MNAs in parliament.

Meanwhile, a bill seeking to increase the number of Supreme Court judges landed in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) (Amen­d­m­ent) Bill, tabled in the house by ruling PML-N lawmaker Danyal Chaudhry seeks to increase the number of apex court judges to 23.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2024