LAHORE: The opposition parties on Friday took exception to hooliganism outside Islamabad’s accountability court, accusing the ruling party of orchestrating it to intimidate the presiding judge.

Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed demanded that the accountability court proceedings be shifted to the Supreme Court building and must be carried out under the security cover by the army.

Speaking to media persons at the Punjab Assembly, Mr Rasheed alleged that the PML-N was known for intimidating courts and judges and had attacked them in the past. “If the Supreme Court fails to take suo motu notice of hooliganism by the lawyers, who were actually PML-N workers, the NAB reference will not complete in six years,” he said.

He said the PML-N’s hooliganism and rebellion against the system had proved that Nawaz Sharif wanted to derail democracy in the country.

Answering a question, the opposition leader demanded that law minister Rana Sanaullah apologise to the nation for his recent controversial remarks otherwise the opposition would not allow the Punjab Assembly session to proceed.

PAT: Pakistan Awami Tehrik chief Dr Tahirul Qadri also condemned the court incident and said such tactics were meant to intimidate the judge.

He demanded that the security of the court be handed over to the Rangers or the army. He also berated the ousted prime minister and his brother who, he alleged, attempted to abrogate the Constitution through a recent amendment.

Speaking at a press conference at the party headquarters, he said the Sharif brothers don’t believe in the supremacy of the Constitution or the Supreme Court.

“Our ministers visit America to lobby against Pakistan instead of improving bilateral relations. They are pushing Pakistan towards a crisis,” he said.

Notwithstanding the provincial government’s denial, the PAT chief insisted the record of Model Town massacre had been torched in Faisal Town police station to save the Sharifs and other culprits. He once again held Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah responsible for that incident.

“This is not the first incident of important record having been destroyed. The record of metro bus project was set ablaze to conceal corruption of Rs2 billion. In September 2014, the election commission’s record was burnt and on Sept 7, 2016, record of Nandipur Project mysteriously disappeared. The record of Indian employees of Ramzan Sugar Mill was also burnt and documents of Sasti Roti Scheme disappeared, as did the record of $9 billion loan,” Dr Qadri explained.

He said sarcastically that before any new incident of record torching takes place, electrical wiring of NAB office and Ehtesab court must be thoroughly checked, otherwise a short-circuit could destroy original documents.

Before wrapping up his press conference, he told the audience that he was going abroad for a few days for medical checkup and organisational matters, predicting things would be quite clear by the time he comes back.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2017