Possible arrest of Dasti: it is up to National Assembly Speaker to decide, says Prime Minister

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that it is up to the Speaker National Assembly to take decision on the impending arrest of MNA Jamshed Dasti. While responding to a point of order raised by Noor Alam Khan about the expected arrest of Jamshed Dasti, the Prime Minister Thursday assured House to take up the issue of arrest of MNA Jamshed Dasti with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
He said that he would take up this issue with Shahbaz Sharif during the meeting Thursday. "Speaker, you are the custodian of the House and it is up to you to decide how you proceed when a member is arrested," the Prime Minister said. Earlier, Noor Alam Khan of PPP raised this issue on the floor of the House and said that Punjab police raided the house of Jamshid Dasti and maltreated his mother. He added that now Dasti is conducting an open katchery while the police are going to arrest him.
He criticised the Punjab government mentioning torture to brother and son of the Prime Minister during a recent Multan by-election and demanded to constitute a House Committee to take action, if Dasti is arrested. On this, PML-N's Aftab Sheikh regretted the incident and assured the House to contact Punjab government on the matter relating to Jamshed Dasti.
Commenting on the issue, PPP's Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said that his party did not believe in political victimisation and no such action was taken in Sindh. "The PPP government has shunned this tradition (political victimisation) which is harmful for the politics. We want to abolish this tradition that has seriously damage the politics," he said.
He pointed that the Speaker has the power to issue production orders if a member is arrested as done by the Prime Minister Gilani when he was Speaker National Assembly. He urged the authorities not to restart the practices of the past that may affect the system. Khurram Dastgir of PML-N said that the members are not above the law and mentioned torturing of a PML-N worker in Jalalpur by-election. He said that the funds of federal government were utilised in bye-election.
On this, Nadeem Afzal said that the worker mentioned by Khurram Dastgir is an activist of banned outfit Sipah Sahaba who was nabbed by party workers and handed over to police. Commenting, Raza Hayat Hiraj stressed that arrest of any member must be brought to the notice of the Speaker and described the hooliganism in Jalalpur as unprecedented. He also supported Nadeem Afzal remarks that the arrested worker was an absconder and when arrested, the vehicle of DCO was burnt.
"Let us show some ethics and congratulate the winner. Such conduct will not benefit anybody," he said and congratulated PPP for winning Multan election. Later, during the proceedings, Aftab Sheikh informed the House the Punjab government neither arrested Dasti nor any police force is deputed in front of his house.