Q, N sling mud in Punjab Assembly

Friday, November 06, 2009 By By Babar Dogar

Lahore The Punjab Assembly turned into fish market on Thursday when Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah Khan and Opposition leader Ch Zaheer traded allegations against each otherís leadership, declaring them dacoits and Qabza Mafia heads. The parliamentarians from PML-N and PML-Q in the Punjab Assembly crossed all limits of decency in exposing the past corruptions of their top leadership. Law Minister Rana Sana alleged Ch Pervaiz Elahi and Ch Moonis Elahi were dacoits and Qabza Mafia heads who had illegally occupied 4,000-kanal land of Roberts Agriculture Farm, besides being involved in the Punjab Bank scam. In retaliation, Opposition leader Ch Zaheer termed PML-N Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif dacoits and heads of Qabza Mafia who had illegally occupied 1,600-acre land in Jati Umra Raiwind. Rana Sana challenged Ch Zaheer to prove the allegations, otherwise, he would have to resign while Ch Zaheer informed the house that he was being threatened within and outside the assembly by the law minister. The parliamentarians from both sides of the divide also raised slogans against the leadership of the opposite parties. Sana alleged that Chaudhary family had established a cell in the party secretariat to level allegation against him that he had illegally occupied 10-marla plot in Faisalabad. He said Ch Zaheer had held press conference against him while an open letter from the letter head of MPA Ayesha Javed was also circulated. He claimed that Ayesha Javed had disowned the letter, telling him that it was circulated in her name by the party leadership. He alleged that the dacoits were illegally occupying 34,456-marla land while implicating him in ten marla plot scam. Ch Zaheer, on the other hand, kept on requesting the Speaker to give time to him and his colleagues for unmasking two dacoits living in Jati Umra. The pandemonium ruled the Punjab Assembly immediately after its proceedings started with Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Iqbal turned completely partial allowing parliamentarians to engage in mudslinging against one-another’s leaders. Speaker Rana Iqbal used to be very strict on the issue of supplementary questions and did not allow parliamentarians to make lengthy debates on any particular question but, on Thursday, in violation of his own verdict, he let the parliamentarians to waste one hour on just one question without any valid reason. The female parliamentarians, throughout the debate, stood on their feet and continued raising uproars making it difficult to comprehend anything. The Punjab Assembly could take only one question during one-hour long proceedings. Speaker Rana Iqbal deliberately allowed the treasury members to drag the issue of Robert Agriculture Farm for 15 minutes till the time Law Minister Rana Sana joined the assembly and gave it maximum hype. Soon after the proceedings started, Opposition leader Ch Zaheer moved the attention of Speaker Rana Iqbal towards the malpractice of the assembly secretariat which was dropping questions moved by the opposition benches and entertaining out of the way questions from the treasury benches without any scrutiny. The first question was from Samina Naveed of the PPP regarding Robert Agriculture Farm in Rahim Yar Khan and its illegal transaction by a leading political family in Punjab. Ch Zaheer objected before the Speaker Rana Iqbal that it was a transaction between two private persons and under article 48-G of Rules of Business of provincial assembly, it could not be taken up in the assembly. He claimed if anybody had objection over it, he could take-up the matter before the court of law instead of settling it in the assembly. Nevertheless, the speaker over ruled his objection and allowed PPP parliamentarian Hasan Murtaza to raise supplementary question on it to Revenue Minister Haji Ishaq. She asked the minister whether the transaction was done in accordance with Christian Property Act or through court. The Revenue minister gave details of the present owners of Robert Agriculture Farm which included Ibrahim s/o Taj Din 328 kannals, Moonis Elahi s/o Pervaiz Elahi 24456 kanals, Brig (retd) Mukhtar Ahmed 3643 kanals, Muhammad Ibrahim s/o Tajdin 1222 kanals, Imtiaz Ahmed s/o Tajdin 1000 kanals, Moonis Elahi s/o Pervaiz Elahi 1554 kanals and Brig (retd) Mukhtar Ahmed 2316 kanals. He further stated that the said land belonged to Robert who had left Pakistan in 1950 and, afterwards, it was tilled by tenants till the time these owners purchased the land. Opposition leader Ch Zaheer not only termed the answer incorrect but also warned that he would bring privilege motion if it was not rectified. He offered that if this land still belonged to Chaudhary family, he allowed the government to distribute it among tenants. Senior Minister Raja Riaz urged the Speaker to constitute a committee on it to find the facts. He said, to his knowledge, the answer was correct and based on facts. He challenged Ch Zaheer that he would have to resign if he could not prove the official answer wrong. While the debate was going-on, Law Minister Rana Sana entered the assembly and joined it. He stated that Roberts was a principle in Faisalabad College and was allotted 100 squares of land for harvesting in 1940. Though his claim differed with the claim of Revenue Minister Haji Ishaq as for the date of allotment of land to Robert was concerned, yet he was of the view that Robert returned to England in 1947 and till that time the said land was in the possession of tenants. Sana while terming Ch Pervaiz Elahi as dacoit claimed that during his tenure as the Punjab CM, he traced the family of Roberts in England and managed through military, police and civil administration to occupy the said land on fake documents. He said he had moved an adjournment motion at that time after a group of tenants from Rahim Yar Khan held meeting with him and apprised him about the land scam. He claimed that these dacoits had deprived tenants of this precious land and now his government would retrieve it from them. He further claimed that Ch Moonis Elahi got this land without spending a penny courtesy local influential people who also got share in the loot. He claimed that he would present fake power of attorney before the assembly on Friday (today). He said they had pressurized him to take back the adjournment motion through threats from the then Law Minister Raja Basharat but he stuck to his guns. He said Ch Moonis Elahi was also involved in the Bank of Punjab dacoity of Rs 11 billion in which he got Rs five billion share. He said the case had almost been finalized and the day Hamesh Khan was arrested, the next man taken into custody would be Ch Moonis Elahi. Ch Zaheer asked the speaker to stop Rana Sana from using un-parliamentary language against his leadership, otherwise, he would get befitting response. He was of the view that he had greater respect for Sharif brothers but he could not digest humiliation of his leadership. He alleged that Sharif brothers had committed dacoity through illegally occupying 1600 acres of land in Jati Umra. He said the land was purchased on peanuts through pressurizing the owners on gunpoint. He claimed that the administration was used with the objective of occupying land in Jati Umra. He demanded of the Speaker to produce record of the land before the house. He said he was prepared to purchase 600 acres of land in Jati Umra on double rate of the purchased amount. He asked the speaker to give him more time to uncover the mask of dacoits living in Jati Umra. Rana Sana, in response, stated that the allegations from Ch Zaheer and the uproar from the female parliamentarians could not stop him from calling a thief a thief. He said Ch Zaheer had not given any satisfactory response to his specific and categorical allegations. He stated that Musharraf, during his eights years long regime, could not prove anything against Sharif brothers. If they had any evidence, they would have taken up the case in NAB courts, he added. He claimed that Roberts Agriculture Farm was not a private but state land and they would ensure to retrieve it from the dacoits. He alleged that nobody could stop him calling a spade a spade. However, on the other hand, Revenue minister Haji Ishaq contradicted Law Minister Rana Sana and claimed that it was a private land. Sana, finally, concluded the matter, asking the speaker to form a committee. He along with Ch Zaheer and Moonis Elahi would present their point of views and guilty should be punished. The mudslinging campaign concluded after the Speaker announced question answer session was over.