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| October 28, 2005 | Friday | Ramzan 23, 1426 |
Raja, Rana stoop to each other’s level
LAHORE, Oct 27: Law Minister Raja Basharat and PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah Khan, both respected by many young legislators on account of their competence and performance in the Punjab Assembly, tarnished their image on Thursday when they involved themselves in a war of words — and uttered things incompatible with their status.
Clad in well-stitched suits with matching neck-ties, both continued the clash for quite some time, as the rest of the house listened in disbelief to their remarks against each other.
“I cannot stoop to the level of Rana Saheb even if I try to”, said the angry law minister.
“Raja Saheb cannot raise himself to my level, no matter how assiduously he tries”, replied the PML-N leader on his turn.
Both happen to be lawyers, having enough experience in making arguments and countering them.
The feud started with a question asked by Rana Sanaullah about proprietary rights to slums falling in his Faisalabad constituency and the development work, if any, being done there.
Raja Basharat, who is also the minister for local government, argued that some steps could not be taken because the matter was pending with court. Rana said the fact that the matter was before court did not stop the government from carrying out development work, especially when no stay order had been issued for the purpose.
Both threw norms of decency to winds and resorted to personal attacks on each other. “It’s unfortunate that there are some people in the house who have developed the habit of making criticism just for the sake of criticism. No positive change can be expected in their attitude. But we have to take such people along”, said a furious law minister.
“Some people, who have lost senses, see criticism in everything uttered by the opposition”, reacted Rana Sanaullah.
Without sitting in judgment on who was right and who was wrong, it was below the dignity of both the leaders to have said what they did against each other. From them the young legislators have to learn how to behave in the assembly and give the other side a tough time, without using derogatory language or making personal attacks.
They should have behaved in a dignified manner, without trying to stoop to each other’s level. That they lost tempers in the holy month of Ramazan makes the incident even more unfortunate. The house discussed the situation in the quake-affected areas of Azad Kashmir and the NWFP and the steps which should be taken to provide relief to the victims.
When the debate was taking place, the house was not in quorum and most of the speakers left the house after delivering their speeches. That the NGOs should be given more role in the operation and that the distribution of goods should be made more transparent in order to get a better international response to the calls for help, were among the suggestions made by various legislators.
Incidentally, no one talked about a brilliant idea floated recently by a senior police official. He had proposed that some 2,000 unclaimed vehicles lying with the police should be sold and their proceeds be deposited with the president’s relief fund. Assuming that every vehicle lying unclaimed was worth half a million rupees, the sale of the ‘fleet’ would bring about Rs1 billion to the fund.
Nobody bothered to think that this was the best way to add to the good works of the owners, who lost their vehicles. Sitting home they would get incalculable reward from Allah in the month of Ramazan, when one good thing done is multiplied as many times as The Lord of the Worlds wants.
But there are reports that some police officials did not like the idea of selling others’ vehicles and donating funds to the victims. It is said that some officials have pointed out to the mover of the idea that “Charity begins at home”. They think that the police officials, who did not have even stolen vehicles with them, had the first right to the ‘booty’. They are of the opinion that instead of concentrating on the quake-hit, their seniors should distribute these vehicles among their subordinates.
The unlucky owners cannot expect that they will ever get back their four-wheelers. But let’s see whether the police follow the “charity begins at home” formula or use stolen vehicles to help the quake victims.
Perhaps PPP’s Farzana Raja knows too much about the police mentality. It was for this reason that she said on Thursday that distribution of the relief goods should be made more transparent in order to get a better international response to our help calls.
In her speech, she alleged that some trucks carrying relief goods for the quake-hit had been captured by the police. Banners identifying the donors were changed and the consignments were attributed to the police. Who knew that donations the police distributed had come from somewhere else. But they should keep in mind that there are two kinds of people: one who work and the others who claim credit.
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