LAHORE: ‘Govt uses force against rival candidates’
By Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Aug 13: Watan Dost Group President Hafiz Salman Butt has alleged that the government is trying to spoil the peaceful atmosphere of the city in a bid to change the local election results by force.
Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, he alleged that Naulakha police station SHO Raees Ahmad Khan, who is a brother of the ruling PML’s nominee for UC-81, along with some gunmen, attacked a corner meeting of Watan Dost Group’s candidate Khaliq Butt on Friday night and kidnapped a supporter from the venue. The whereabouts of the kidnapped Malik Badar Naseer was still not known, he said.
Jamaat-i-Islami Lahore secretary-general Amirul Azeem and Khaliq Butt, who is also a former nazim of the UC, were also present.
Demanding departmental as well as legal action against the SHO, the MNA said they had postponed for 24 hours their protest against ‘hooliganism’ on the request of the administration which had sought time for investigation.
Mr Azeem said the leaders of the Watan Nawaz and Awam Dost groups had condemned the incident and assured their full support for the protest demonstration if no action was taken against the SHO. It was rather decided to jointly face ‘negative tactics’ of the ruling PML in future, he added.
The MNA alleged that the SHO had served three months in jail when the Anti-Narcotics Force caught him with a big haul of heroin while tourism minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and his brothers were involved in gambling in Samanabad.
He expressed concern that people with criminal record were making their entry into politics, which was dangerous for the politics itself as well as the country.
The Watan Dost Group had dispatched a written complaint to the chief election commissioner against the UC-81 incident. He, however, regretted that the police had not yet registered a case against the tourism minister for firing on his group’s supporters on Aug 2. The police, he said, were ignoring directions of the CEC.
The group has filed a petition with the district and sessions judge to get the case registered. The petition will be heard on Aug 19.
