LAHORE, May 27: Police detained 22 opposition members of the Punjab Assembly, including their leader Qasim Zia and deputy leader Rana Sanaullah Khan, for around six hours on Tuesday when they insisted on attending the assembly proceedings despite the Speaker’s orders barring them from taking part in the proceedings of the ongoing session.
They were, however, released on the directive of the government in the afternoon.
“We took them into custody only when they tried to force their way into the assembly,” Cantonment police SP Dr Usman Anwar said.
Speaker Afzal Sahi had barred 27 MPAs of the PPP and the PML-N from attending the current session for “obstructing and hampering the proceedings” on Monday.
The speaker issued the order on Monday evening under the Rule 210 of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, 1997, for the smooth conduct and transaction of business during the remaining days of the session. The speaker, however, did not bar any MMA legislator from participating in the proceedings in spite of the fact they had also been actively involved in the combined opposition’s protest over the two issues of distribution of development funds by the provincial government and the LFO.
Those who have been barred from taking part in the proceedings of the ongoing session include opposition leader Qasim Zia, deputy opposition leader Rana Sanaullah Khan, Dr Asad Ashraf, Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, Sheikh Amjad Aziz, Ajasim Sharif, Ahad Malik, Samiullah Khan, Bilal Yasin, Muhammad Nawaz Malik, Dr Asad Moazzam, Sheikh Ejaz Ahmed, Raja Riaz Ahmad, Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan, Dr Muhammad Afzal, Azhar Nadeem, Jahanzeb Rao, Ashraf Kamboh, Lala Shakeelur Rehman, Saud Dar, Sajjad Gujjar, Mujahid Ali Shah, Ejaz Samma, Sheikh Tanvir, Dr Nazir Ahmed Mithhoo, Imran Ashraf, and Sheikh Aziz.
Heavy police contingents and plain-clothes officers had cordoned off the assembly building since early morning. Qasim Zia and some other PPP MPAs were the first to reach the assembly at around 8:30am. Mr Zia was intercepted by the SP. The police officer showed him the order issued by the speaker and told him that he would not be allowed into the building.
More MPAs joined the opposition leader and it soon turned into an exchange of harsh words and argument. Both the MPAs and police stuck to their position. The police would not allow them to enter the building while the MPAs insisted on attending the session.
“They did not show me the speaker’s order in spite of repeated demand,” the opposition leader told a press conference after his release. “This amounts to state terrorism.”
Having failed to convince the MPAs, the police bundled them into their vans and took them to the Qila Gujjar Singh police headquarters. The Punjab Elite Force was also called in to join the operation.
Some lawmakers insisted that they be taken to the police station in their own vehicles, but their request was turned down. Dozen of workers from the PPP and the PML-N rushed outside the assembly building from where they went to the police headquarters and chanted anti-government slogans.
Saying that the opposition will continue its struggle, Mr Zia demanded that Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi should resign if he was not able to run the affairs of the province. “It has never happened before. This is in violation of human rights and against the democratic and political norms,” he said.
Earlier, speaking to reporters in his chamber before the start of the session, Speaker Sahi expressed his ignorance about the police action against the opposition members. However, he defended his order of directing them to “absent themselves from the sitting during the current session”.
In answer to a question, the speaker said he did not take action against any MMA legislator because they had not “picketed the Chair or the treasury members”.