ISLAMABAD / NORTH WAZIRISTAN: The arrest of South Waziristan MNA Ali Wazir echoed during budget discussion in the National Assembly on Monday, but while fellow lawmakers protested the arrest and demanded his immediate release, the speaker and other ministers seemed unmoved by the incident.

According to officials, security forces took Mr Wazir into custody from the Tamtail checkpost in South Waziristan district, and he was handed over to police on Monday.

Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, his colleague and North Waziristan MNA Mohsin Dawar drew the attention of the house towards Mr Wazir’s arrest.

He regretted that the authorities had violated the National Assembly’s rules by arresting the MNA without seeking permission from the speaker, adding that under the recently-amended rules, the speaker was bound to issue the production order of the detained MNA by default if he was arrested during the session.

Mr Dawar said the lawmaker had been arrested at check-post over a case registered in Peshawar, and had not been presented before a court of law as yet.

The issue was raised by other lawmakers as well. PPP’s Qadir Mandokhel criticised the authorities for repeatedly arresting the MNA and asked the speaker to issue Mr Wazir’s production orders. Speaking on the issue, JUI-F’s Jamaluddin equated the present government with the previous PTI regime, warning that the situation in the area may worsen if the MNA was not released immediately.

However, no one from the government side uttered even a single word over the arrest of Mr Wazir, and the speaker, who usually gives his observations on nearly every matter raised by members of the house through points of order, preferred to keep mum over the issue this time.

On Friday, the cybercrime circle of the Federal Investigation Agency had summoned Mr Wazir and Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen over mutiny charges.

The FIA had also issued notices to three others — Hazrat Naeem from North Waziristan, Abdul Samad from Bannu and Alamzeb Mehsood from South Waziristan — to appear before the cybercrime circle for their alleged involvement in inciting people against the armed forces.

Mr Wazir was released from Karachi’s Central Jail on February 14 this year, after being incarcerated for more than two years. The lawmaker had been jailed in Karachi since December 31, 2020 after being arrested in connection with various sedition cases.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2023