News Analysis |
The members of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) seem to be making a strong exception to the directives of Mian Saqib Nisar, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, with a provincial lawmaker actually warning the top judge of registration, of a First Information Report (FIR) against him.
Rana Jamil Hassan Khan, A PML-N member of the Punjab Assembly, addressed the members of the assembly on Friday and, stated that he was kidnapped in broad daylight, some years ago. Rana Jamil states that the recent directives of Mian Saqib Nisar, about the withdrawal of security from unauthorized officials, had endangered his life. Jamil, who has never been in the limelight for his statements or bills, was kidnapped in 2014 and recovered under mysterious circumstances six months later.
The legislator, citing the kidnapping incident, in a furious tone, said that the chief justice had put lives of his family members in jeopardy, indirectly demanding the restoration of security, he was stripped off. Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, the speaker of the Punjab Assembly, tried to calm down his colleague, but Jamil continued to state that if something were to happen to him or his family, a FIR should be registered against the chief justice.
The video, which was also retweeted by Maryam Nawaz as a visible display of resentment, showed the vehicle of the chief justice thronged by SUVs and police mobiles as he arrived at the Charsadda judicial complex.
Rana Jamil also claimed that the individuals behind his kidnapping were, again, making threatening calls, decrying the call back of police officials from his house. Rana Jamil was elected to the Punjab Assembly from PP-174 (Nankana Sahib) in the 2013 general elections, by securing 27, 390 votes. He was kidnapped, along with his wife, by six armed gunmen on the Motorway near Sargodha Interchange and the couple was recovered from an area near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border after six months.
The abductors freed Rana Jamil’s wife in Rawalpindi with a message to arrange Rs, 50 million as ransom. However, Shehbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab, sought a report from the then police chief, and Jamil was recovered in December 2014. Rana Jamil’s furious outburst, against the top judge, came in the aftermath of the chief justice’s directives to withdraw security from all the unauthorized officials, including journalists, religious scholars and lawyers – in all the four provinces.
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Salahuddin Mehsud, Inspector General Police of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was the first one to comply with the orders, for which the top judge lavished praise on him. Punjab and Sindh followed the directions of the chief justice after a few days, and directed the police officials, who were attached with unauthorized individuals, to report back to their stations.
According to the report submitted by Arif Nawaz, Inspector General Police of Punjab, as many as 4,610 police personnel in Punjab were called back to their respective stations. Statistically, 297 policemen were withdrawn from the security of politicians, including Rana Jamil and as many as 5,005 police officials were summoned back to their respective stations in Sindh.
Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, the speaker of the Punjab Assembly, tried to calm down his colleague, but Jamil continued to state that if something were to happen to him or his family, a FIR should be registered against the chief justice.
Besides Rana Jamil, Maryam Nawaz, the former first daughter, had also slated the top judge for withdrawing the security of Nawaz Sharif, who is facing corruption charges and is being tried by the accountability court in Islamabad. A few days back, Maryam had tweeted almost the same remarks as Jamil, saying that ‘if anything were to happen to ousted premier Nawaz Sharif it would be the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar’s, fault’.
خدانخواستہ اُسے کچھ ہوا تو ذمہ دار صرف آپ ہوں گے https://t.co/SwXbr7wItE
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 21, 2018
The directives of the chief justice were fully implemented. This was done to the extent, that even the security cameras installed, on the way to Jati Umrah residence of the former premier, were removed. With this in mind, the chief justice restored the security of Nawaz Sharif a few days later and remarked that they did not want to put anyone’s life in danger. The chief justice also directed the concerned officials to ascertain whether Asfandyar Wali Khan, the chairman of the Awami National Party, had security escort or not.
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Mian Saqib Nisar also sought a detailed report regarding the security concerns of influential individuals in all the provinces. The strict directives of the top judge also opened floodgates of criticism, as a video showing the security protocol of the top judge went viral on the social media, a few days back.
The video, which was also retweeted by Maryam Nawaz as a visible display of resentment, showed the vehicle of the chief justice thronged by SUVs and police mobiles as he arrived at the Charsadda judicial complex. Some of the social media users also challenged to count the number of vehicles, alleging that the actions and words of the top judge did not match his words.