LAHORE: PML-N lawmakers on Wednesday met Lahore police chief Umer Sheikh and allegedly warned him against political victimisation of their party members, especially President Shehbaz Sharif.

“We told Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umer Sheikh that his loyalty should be with the state and not the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI),” PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah told reporters after the meeting.

He remarked that Prime Minister Imran Khan had lost his senses while taking revenge from the opposition, especially the PML-N. “In his dreams also he says he will not spare anyone. He has ordered institution of false cases against his political opponents and wants to torture them in jail, and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif is an example of it,” MNA Sanaullah said.

Flanked by provincial lawmakers Samiullah Khan and Azma Bokhari, he said transporting Shehbaz from the jail to court and back was the responsibility of the CCPO.

“Shehbaz Sharif has had an acute backache. To torture him at the behest of Imran Khan he is taken to court in an armoured vehicle,” he lamented.

“We have warned the CCPO that we will not bear this attitude and political victimisation anymore. We asked him not to become a tool in the hands of Imran Khan and Shahzad Akbar,” the MNA said, adding that the CCPO was also warned that the PML-N workers could hold a sit-in outside his office if Shehbaz was further transported in an armoured car.

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has been in Kot Lakhpat Jail on judicial remand in a money laundering and assets beyond means case of the National Accountability Bureau.

Talking about the 11-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)’s rallies, Sanaullah claimed that Covid-19 did not spread in open spaces. “The PDM’s public meetings in Peshawar (on Nov 22) and Lahore (Dec 13) will be held at any cost. It is immaterial whether the PTI government gives us permission or not,” he stressed.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2020