THE state’s cat-and-mouse game with the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement seems to have resumed in earnest. One of its most prominent members, MNA Ali Wazir, has once again been put behind bars — after being deemed ‘anti-state’ yet again. Mr Wazir faces an uncertain future as the National Assembly, much like it did under the PTI regime, turns a blind eye to his plight. During the Monday budget session, Mohsin Dawar and other MNAs argued that since Mr Wazir’s ‘arrest’ was executed without the National Assembly speaker’s knowledge and while the Lower House was still in session, it ought to be deemed ‘unlawful’. They made reference to a very recently passed law that extends lawmakers this protection. The same law also entitles Mr Wazir to attend the budget session under a production order issued by the NA speaker. Disappointingly, Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf seemed to completely ignore the protestations and move on.

Mr Wazir has lost much of his family in terrorist attacks. He has remained a vocal critic of Pakistan’s flawed security policies and consistently condemns state excesses, including those seen in recent days. It is, therefore, unrealistic to expect him to modulate his criticism of what he believes to be the reasons behind the unimaginable suffering he, and others like him, have experienced first-hand. It may be recalled that Mr Wazir had been released from jail just this February after spending more than two years behind bars without being convicted. If there is a fresh case against him, it should be taken up in a court of law; meanwhile, the NA speaker should issue a production order so that Mr Wazir can at least represent his constituency in the ongoing budget session. Our lawmakers have recently made much of the ‘supremacy’ of parliament. It must be asked: what good is such supremacy when the same parliament cannot even protect its own members from having their privileges breached with impunity?

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2023