PTI leader says will continue to raise voice against recent legislation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secretary general Salman Akram Raja vowed on Wednesday to continue raising voice against the recent legislation which granted service extensions to three services chiefs, saying that obliging a powerful individual in order to prolong their illegitimate rule is not acceptable.

Speaking at a presser along with PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan and party spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram, he reiterated that service extension for military generals would negatively affect the discipline within the institution.

“I’ve never said it’s an internal matter of the military. We’ll raise questions as is not acceptable to oblige an individual,” Raja said, while referring to the recently passed law which automatically allows the incumbent services chiefs service tenures from three to five years.

PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan strongly condemned the “kidnapping” of Khawaja Sheraz, a PTI MNA, by unknown masked men who broke entered his residence and harassed his children and other family members and took him away to an undisclosed location.

He demanded immediate production of Shiraz before the court as his whereabouts were still unknown, and added that this was not the only incident as recently Imran Khan’s focal person Intizar Panjhuta was also abducted and left on the roadside in a deplorable condition.

Gohar said that Sheraz was abducted because of his unwavering stand on constitutional amendments as he was subjected to targeted harassment after his long stay in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He lamented that the fascism and lawlessness rule the roost and PTI was its main target in Punjab in which the provincial government and its police were equally involved.

Gohar demanded National Assembly Speaker to take notice of the unfortunate incident, as Shiraz was an elected member of National Assembly and a chairman of a standing committee.

He demanded Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi to take up the petitions filed against the controversial 26th constitutional amendment, saying it was a wilful attempt to snatch the independence of judiciary.

Sheikh Waqas Akram revealed that Sheraz’s house was raided by unknown masked men around 11pm when he was taking ashower, and his family was held hostage to ascertain his whereabouts.

“Khawaja Sheraz’s wife stated that there were not only unknown men, but they were accompanied by police personnel and police vehicles, who forcibly opened the door of the children’s room and showed them that they were taking their father away to further traumatize them,” he lamented.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024