The MPs were stunned when Farooq Azam Malik blasted secret agencies for tapping telephones and issuing threats to his family members of teaching him a lesson for raising voice for Seraiki people in parliament. “Is it the status of this parliament that an MNA is issued threats by secret agencies,” Malik said amid pin-drop silence in the house.
The trouble started, when Malik accused the Punjab of repeating the history of East Pakistan in Balochistan and depriving Seraiki people of their rights. He said time had come to either make a separate province for Seraikis or restore the old Bahawalpur state.
His outburst against the Punjab’s ruling elite led to a division in the House as MNAs Ali Akbar Vaince, Anwar Ali Cheema, ministers Zafar Iqbal Warraich, Shahnaz Sheikh and Ali Asjad stood up to defend the role of the Punjab in the affairs of the country.
However, many Seraiki-speaking MNAs sided with Malik Farooq Azam. MNA Sardar Bahadur Khan Sihar was quick to join Farooq Azam Malik. Riaz Hussain Pirzada also wanted to speak in favour of the Seraiki province, but the speaker did not allow him.
PPPP MNA Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who, a few days ago, had demanded Seraiki province, stood up to exploit a comment from a woman minister against Farooq Azam Malik. He termed the Seraiki province issue the ruling party’s internal problem.
Earlier, Ali Akbar Vaince spoke against Farooq Azam Malik in reply to one of his previous speeches. He rejected the impression that Punjabi settlers were given land by the Nawab of Bahawalpur free-of-cost.
In his reply, Farooq Malik said the Nawab of Bahawalpur had played an important role in the creation of Pakistan. He said Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah wanted to make the Nawab of Bahawalpur the governor-general of Pakistan after his departure. He said the best course would be to give rights to Seraikis by announcing a separate province for 40 million people or restore the old Bahawalpur state. He asked where should Seraiki people go as all development was taking place in Central Punjab and only people of Gujrat were getting jobs.
On this, Minister of State for Interior Zafar Warraich stood up and said no ‘Jaat’ was working as a DCO or DPO in his district as alleged by Azam. Another minister, Ali Asjad Mali, also defended the Punjab’s role and said “we should not be discussing such things in that fashion on the floor of the house.” Minister of State for Health Shahnaz Sheikh passed sarcastic comments against Malik Farooq Azam.
Seraiki MNA Sardar Bahadur Khan Sihar, in his speech, furthered the cause of Seraiki people. He said proud Seraikis had their own identity, culture, tradition, history and centuries old civilisation. He said Seraiki people don’t need any certificate for their identity. Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain repeatedly interrupted the speakers from the treasury benches and told them to raise these issues in the meeting of the ruling party.