Rules and laws apply to all but Imran
Khan, PTI members and K-P police
By Shakir Lakhani Published: February 2, 2018
Asma Rani, a
medical student, was shot dead for refusing a proposal in Kohat. The killer,
Mujahid Afridi, is the nephew of PTI's local district president.
PHOTO: EXPRESS
There are times when I almost feel sorry for Imran Khan. Every time he makes a statement blaming
Nawaz Sharif or some other opposition leader, something similar ends up happening
to make him eat
humble pie.
For instance, when he proclaimed that he didn’t believe in
dynasty politics like the Sharifs and the Bhuttos, but then gave a party
ticket to
the son of the disqualified Jehangir Tareen, despite there being
hundreds of other honest workers in his party who deserved it more. Or when
he defended Rao Anwarupon his sacking by Nawaz, but
then had to eat his words after the errant police officer turned out to be
a murderer on the run. And of course, most recently, when he jumped into
the fray and supported TV anchor Shahid Masood’s
claims regarding Zainab’s killer and his bank accounts, and that a Punjab MNA
belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was part of an
international pornography ring; all alleged claims the anchor has been unable
to prove in court.
And who can forget his famous “lanat” speech, when he supported his mentor, Sheikh Rasheed, and said he
would resign from the National Assembly? There are no talks of resignations
now. On the contrary, when he shamelessly claimed that all his party
parliamentarians have handed their resignation letters to him, one of them
immediately denied
it. But of course, none of this has had any effect on Imran. I
wonder if he feels any shame, now that Rasheed too has decided not
to resign (undoubtedly to avail the benefits of being an MNA for its
remaining tenure of four months!).
When a Parliament,
which must protect nation's interests, passes a person-specific law allowing a
disqualified person guilty of Rs 3 bn money laundering, tax evasion,
concealment of assets, forgery & perjury to become head of a pol party,
then such a law is a "laanath" on Parl.
Let’s consider what happened when Imran went all out to defame
the Punjab government in its alleged mishandling of the
Zainab rape case. Denouncing the Punjab police and its government, he suggested
that since Zainab’s father had appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP)
and the Army Chief to help find the killer, this indicated that the public had
lost confidence in the government and the police. However, in a surprising
twist, two incidents happened in rapid succession in his own Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
(K-P), where his
own party has been in charge for over four years.
The first was the rape
and murder of four-year-old Asma, whose killer remains at large, even
after 20 days. The other case is that of Asma Rani, a medical student who
was recently shot
dead for refusing a proposal in Kohat. The killer, Mujahid
Afridi, is also said to be the nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) local
district president. Rani’s father, in a heart-breaking plea, asked the CJP and
the Army Chief to help him get justice.
So what does Imran have to say
now, in light of these developments? Strangely enough, he continues praising
the K-P police. Even more strange is the fact that, even though he went to
Kasur and Lahore to denounce the Punjab police, he has not had the decency to
do the same and go meet the parents of little Asma or the beleaguered family of
Rani, who seek justice to no avail.
But then again, Imran’s policy has always been to either turn a
deaf ear to all crimes taking place in K-P, or attack a certain media house for
pointing out such “awkward” instances, such as the rape of children or
women being stripped and forced to parade
naked. In fact, even though the Supreme Court itself criticised the K-P police for being negligent,
Imran still
maintains that it is the best police in the country.
Of course, the K-P police is highly efficient when it comes to
failing to take appropriate and timely action whenever members of the PTI are
involved in crimes. It allowed PTI councillor, Arif Khan, to
escape to Bangkok after the lynching of Mashal Khan a year
ago. It failed to take action after Sharifan Bibi was
stripped in public, because of pressure from the notorious Ali Amin Gandapur.
On an interesting side note, Gandapur was once caught on his way to Bani Gala
with large bottles of what he claimed was honey, but was in fact whiskey.
Astoundingly, the Chief Minister of K-P, Parvez Khattak, casually dismissed the incidents of rape and
murder in his province, by saying that such incidents happen all over the world
and that his police force should not be criticised for a few such instances. He
also said that it was all a planned campaign against his party,
repeating the same tune his party head does whenever he is criticised for his
failings.
To be fair, there have been
instances when the K-P police has acted promptly, such as when it arrested the
five rapists of a boy in Haripur within 48 hours.
After a sad incident
was reported on 27-1-2018 in #Haripur of a boy been raped by 5 offenders, #KPPolice swiftly responded with arresting all
offenders with in 48 hours
Names of offenders arrested are below :-
1. Ashfaq Ahmad
2. Khurram
3. Arsalan
4. Ahmad
5. Constable Shahzad
Names of offenders arrested are below :-
1. Ashfaq Ahmad
2. Khurram
3. Arsalan
4. Ahmad
5. Constable Shahzad
But it is important to note
that in the cases where the criminals were caught within 48 hours, the rapists
were not relatives of PTI officials. One can only wish that the K-P police
would be equally efficient in cases in which those associated with and
belonging to PTI are complicit.
I have accepted that Imran’s
followers will perhaps always remain blind to his shortcomings, but if they
really want to know what the common residents of K-P think of PTI, then they
should really watch these eye-opening videos.
https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/958835368295587841/pu/img/-QhSsKLyKd53ik8h?format=jpg&name=900x900
The question lingering in everyone’s mind is, when
will Imran turn his attention from what is happening in other provinces and do
something to make the lives of those living in K-P better? Given all that Imran
has accomplished thus far, one is not wrong to expect more maturity from him.
One is also not wrong to be thoroughly disappointed by his persistently
inexcusable and immature behaviour.
I have
my doubts on whether it is possible for Imran to change, but it can be argued
that miracles are always possible. One of these days Imran may do something
that will pleasantly surprise us, such as finally putting his money where his
mouth is and taking action against the negligence of the K-P police or the
crooks in his party. One can only hope that the tabdeeli in Imran’s naya
Pakistan will start with him.
https://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/63507/rules-and-laws-apply-to-all-but-imran-khan-pti-members-and-k-p-police/
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