Islamabad: Leader of opposition in Senate Shibli Faraz on Friday attacked the treasury bench for their “role” in targeting PTI and said such actions “under surveillance” will not be forgotten by history.
A day earlier, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolished and closed the PTI Central Secretariat in Sector G-84 of the federal capital for violating building laws as part of a crackdown against illegal construction and encroachment.
The operation led to clashes between PTI activists and the police. PTI Islamabad president Aamir Mughal was also arrested in the clash.
Commenting on yesterday’s attack, Shibli said: “The election symbol of our party, which represents the largest political group in our country, has been removed. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi have been arrested on false charges, the whole nation knows this. Our party has been banned from all sides”.
“We don’t have time for people who are currently occupying treasury seats to protest or remain silent and show their support for this act of violence,” the senator said.
Alleging that the party workers were accused of using sticks, Shibli said, “You cannot do politics by force. You can remove our party logo, jail our leaders, demolish our offices and attack our houses, but you cannot remove the love for Imran Khan from hate most of the 250 million people in this country.”
“Everything happens under your control. Tomorrow history will be hard to remember. When your future generations see your history, they will see who is right. History does not forgive anyone!” said the senator.
Shibli said the PML-N-led coalition government failed to win more than 27 seats in the February 8 elections, saying they came to power through a “stolen mandate”.
Afterwards, Shibli claimed that the CCTV footage of the attack on PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan was sufficient, but the attackers were not arrested.
Senators demanded the immediate release of Amir Mughal and those arrested.
Speaking after Shibli, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the CDA has been issuing notices to the PTI since 2020, with the last reminder sent on May 10. The notice reiterated concerns about unapproved two-storey construction, container placement and public parking. CDA has sought immediate response from PTI as people are facing hardship.
Responding to Faraz’s accusation that Tarar intended [verbally] to attack the judiciary, the law minister called the remark “a real exception”. Tarar said he did not feel comfortable saying such words when asked not to offend or protect the dignity of each person.
