PML-N leaders move IHC for protective bails
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Narcotics Control Attaullah Tarar on Saturday warned the PTI and Punjab government that “all of you” will be arrested if a single PML-N worker is sent behind bars.
Tarar alleged that the Punjab government has booked PML-N workers and MPAs as retribution for the sedition case filed against PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s chief of staff, Shahbaz Gill.
The press briefing came after 12 PML-N leaders approached the Islamabad High Court seeking protective bail in a case related to ruckus in the Punjab Assembly during the chief minister election. A district court issued their arrest warrants a day prior.
The PML-N leaders include Tarar, Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, Awais Leghari, Muhammad Mirza Javed, Malik Saif ul Malook Khokhar, Peer Khizer Hayat Shah Khagga, Raja Sagheer Ahmed, Mian Abdul Rauf, Pir Muhammad Ashraf Rasool, Bilal Farooq Tarar, and Rana Mannan Khan.
Tarar said the “actual case” was against Chief Minister Punjab Pervez Elahi alleging that he, his party, and other PTI leaders were involved in the attack on former deputy speaker Punjab Assembly Dost Mazari.
“The whole nation watched what happened to Dost Mazari. This was the actual case. But nothing happened to Pervez Elahi,” the special assistant to PM said. “They concocted fake cases against us,” he said. The premier’s special assistant, addressing the PTI and the Punjab government, said that they would have to pay for their “revenge politics” that they have resorted to and that their actions “will have repercussions”. “Pervez Elahi and his Punjab government are being controlled through remote control from Bani Gala. This is his old habit. For God’s sake, stop this, the country has already borne much loss.”
Tarar vowed that the PML-N would “face this fascist government head on” and not back down.
“Parvez Elahi sahib, you and your son (Moonis Elahi) will face the consequences of this new trend that you have set,” Tarar reiterated, claiming that Moonis had been issuing instructions for action against PML-N leaders despite not having any official authority. The PML-N leader’s criticism of the Punjab government comes hours after police raids at the residences of at least a dozen PML-N leaders in the province for their arrest over their alleged involvement in the violence witnessed in the Punjab Assembly during the chief minister’s election on April 16.
However, the lawmakers had managed to evade police and flee to Islamabad, where the PML-N is at the helm of affairs. Tarar alleged that CM Elahi had “fully facilitated Imran Khan in promoting this anti-state narrative”, adding that Elahi was “at the forefront of exacting revenge from us”.
He went on to claim that Elahi and Moonis had directed jail officials not to hand over Gill to Islamabad police even when the court had approved his remand in police custody. They had been defying court orders, the PML-N leader added. Tarar said the cases registered against PML-N lawmakers in connection with the April 16 session were “fake”. “What are you avenging?” he questioned, adding that the action taken against the PTI’s members and supporters during the May 25 Azadi March was the government’s “job” and “responsibility”.
“What you were doing was illegal. You tried to create anarchy … It was our responsibility to stop anarchy,” he said. The PML-N leader vowed to fight the Punjab government’s “fascism and revenge” with determination. “We will take the legal course,” he said, adding that the cases against PML-N MPAs were “fake” and “baseless”.
Punjab Home Minister Col (retd) Hashim Dogar earlier in the day said that a probe has been launched against those involved in “torturing” PTI workers on May 25 and those who were involved in the Punjab Assembly ruckus.
“Police are searching [for the PML-N leaders] to arrest them after a court issued their arrest warrants. The officers who misused authority on May 25 and by-elections have been removed from office.”
Dogar added that CCPO Lahore, DIG operations, and DIG investigations have been removed from their posts, while 30 inspectors will also be dismissed. Four SPs and seven DSPs have also been suspended with a high-level inquiry is underway.
