Lahore:
The opposition in the Punjab assembly on Wednesday strongly condemned police attacks on the residence of its MPAs and the alleged harassment of their families in front of Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf’s (PTI) nationwide protest on August 5.
When the assembly session began under the chairman of acting speeches Malik Zaheer Iqbal Channer, deputy opposition leader Muhammad Moeenuddin Riaz raised the question at an order point and expressed serious concern about what he called as a preventative crash.
“There are still many days left in August 5, but police officers have already begun to carry out attacks on our MPAs,” he said.
“It is regrettable that the families of our MPAs and workers are also harassed by the Punjab police,” he added, demanding that the law minister immediately notice the situation.
Read more: LHC suspends by-POLL plan for NA-175
Riaz also expressed disappointment with the delay in forming a committee to investigate a previous incident involving an attack and the use of violent language against opposition -MPAs from the private guards of state lawmakers.
However, the provincial minister of parliamentary affairs Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman seemed unaware of the attacks. “It’s not in my knowledge,” he said, assuring parliament that he would contact senior police officers and home department to get more information.
Later, Oppositions MPA Tayyab Rashid raised concerns about the illegal human organ trade and claimed that a kidney transplant racket operated in Sheikhupura “under the nose of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.”
He criticized the government for targeting the opposition instead of tackling urgent issues affecting the public. “The government had to focus from the opposition and do something for the needy masses,” he said.
ALSO READ: District Hospitals should offer angioplasty
PPP MPA Qazi Ahmad Saeed also spoke on the floor and highlighted an alleged scandal with water theft. He claimed that influential individuals led canal water to their own countries, leaving poor farmers helpless. “They knocked the doors many times of the concerned authorities, but their efforts proved to be meaningless,” he told the assembly.
From the Ministry of Finance’s benches, MPA Amjad Ali Javed raised a question regarding the Higher Education Commission (HEC) policies in which they said new rules cause distress among computer science students.
He said HEC had decided that a computer science would not be considered valid without accreditation from a specific council.
“Students who have completed two semesters are now deeply concerned about the problem,” Javed noted. He urged HEC to review and relax the policy of interest in student futures.
