Dirty politics: PTI pressure group smells conspiracy behind Kohat rape case
PESHAWAR: The handling of a recent rape case in Kohat where Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Qureshi’s brother was one of the accused brought fissures in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ranks to the fore in the provincial assembly on Wednesday.
The issue has become a rallying point for the party’s ‘forward bloc’, which has been silent for some time.
The pressure group was formed earlier this year, reportedly headed by the deputy speaker, to force the party leadership into removing corrupt elements from the provincial cabinet and halting central leaders’ interference in the province.
The issue cropped up when the house was about to start a discussion on law and order as requested by the opposition. The pressure group members entered the assembly together, donning black armbands.
Two of the members, Qurban Khan and Javed Nasim, stood up and asked Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to be allowed to speak on a point of order to which the speaker agreed. Qurban, in his speech, said the issue at hand was a matter of concern for the whole house. He said he had joined PTI after being impressed with its rhetoric of justice and truth, adding he was presently acting according to the party’s manifesto and will face the chief minister, his advisers and assistants if they come in the way of justice.
After emphatically quoting Pashto poet Ghani Khan, Qurban said the levelling of rape charges against the deputy speaker’s brother has made the speaker’s chair controversial. He said news channels ran the story for two days, causing the deputy speaker to suffer a stroke.
He said if the issue was not resolved immediately, they would not attend the budget session. After making this declaration, the MPA from Nowshera, along with other group members, staged a walkout from the house with opposition members following suit.
Minister for Information Shah Farman told the house there were no eyewitnesses in the rape case nor any circumstantial evidence or medical report to establish guilt, saying the entire episode seems to be based on mala fide intentions.
He asked the speaker to form a special committee to stem such incidents from happening in the future.
The speaker sent the house on a recess for tea break and asked that the disgruntled members be brought back to the house. The pressure group members then huddled in front of journalists where the deputy speaker alleged that a senior government figure was behind the incident.
The members then met the speaker inside his chambers to discuss the issue. Talking to reporters following the meeting, Qurban said they have agreed to investigate the issue through a 10-member committee comprising two members of their group and parliamentary leaders of all the parties. He said the committee will investigate and present its report before the budget, warning they would otherwise boycott the budget session.
Qurban said some senior government officials may be behind the rape incident in a bid to counter their group, adding they will boycott the present session to establish their seriousness.
On May 6, the deputy speaker’s brother Imtiaz Qureshi and his cousin Asmatullah Qureshi allegedly raped a young woman in Kohat after which the victim and her husband lodged an FIR against them at the Shakardara police station.
On May 10, the victim’s mother, Tajwar Sultana, told journalists that her son-in-law was forcing his wife to withdraw the case and settle the matter outside court. She alleged he had been influenced by the deputy speaker and thrashed his wife, forcing her to miss the court hearing on that day.
Meanwhile, the house adopted two resolutions, including one from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl lawmaker Zareen Gul asking the federal government to pay outstanding amounts payable in lieu of the province’s share of water being used by other provinces since the Water Apportionment Accord of 1991. The session had not started three hours after the recess and till this report was filed.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2014.