Nominee for Punjab CM seen in controversies

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Some controversies surround Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nominee for the Punjab chief minister slot — Usman Buzdar.

Buzdar, whose father Fateh Mohammad Buzdar also served thrice as MPA, has emerged as a surprise choice for the slot.

People from his Buzdar's tribe and relatives have levelled allegations of murder, political victimisation and nepotism against Buzdar who since 1998 is in the third political party of his career as he had been related twice to PML-N, first before October 12, 1999 and later after 2008 when his father joined the unification bloc after winning on PML-Q ticket. By 2018, he is in PTI.

Buzdar, who hails from Baarki village – an area that falls under PP-286, the tribal region of Dera Ghazi Khan – himself served as district council member in 1998, PML-Q’s tehsil nazim twice in 2001 and 2005 and lost the election as PML-N candidate in 2013 at the hands of PPP’s Khawaja Nizam.

Before the 2018 general elections, Buzdar found entered the PTI with the lobbying of Khawaja Shiraz, a noted politician from DG Khan, and a senior police official deployed in a southern Punjab district who has good relationship with PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen.

He was fielded as PTI candidate and won from PP-286. This is noteworthy that Jaffer Buzdar, a brother of the Buzdar, is the UC chairman of PML-N, whereas another brother, Umar Buzdar, is serving in Border Military Police (BMP). His cousins Hashim Buzdar and Imran Buzdar are also associated with BMP. Farooq Buzdar, another cousin, is also a sitting UC chairman and siding with the PML-N.

The first controversy that surrounds Imran’s choice is the June 1998 murders on day of district council election in which six supporters of his rival candidate Hayat Buzdar were gunned down. In this case, Buzdar, his father and brother Umar as well as 30 others were nominated.

To diffuse the tension and bring truce, the local tribal elders and noted figures like Khawaja Attaullah Taunsvi and Khawaja Nasir Mehmood intervened and the Buzdar’s group paid Rs 7.5 million as ‘blood money’ [diyat] of to the families of deceased. And after the payment, the case was disposed of.

In the years 2001 and 2005, Buzdar was elected as tehsil nazim and according to Saddam Buzdar, a close relative of Usman, an era of corruption started in the area in the development schemes. Saddam also moved the NAB where, according to him, an inquiry is under way. However, a NAB press release stated that no inquiry was currently pending against Buzdar and he was only once interrogated when he was holding the office of tehsil nazim.

Talking to The News, Saddam said he and his family had been the worst example of victimisation by Buzdar’s group just because he had supported the group of Khawaja Nizam in different elections. Saddam stated that his father, who is related to Education Department, was targeted and faced departmental action on a number of times but finally restored to his job in 2017.

He said his brother, who was serving as a chemical engineer, was terminated from the service after Buzdar used his influence. Moreover, he said that the political opponents faced regular oppression at the hands of the Buzdars who control the area through Buzdar, his brother Umar and cousins serving in the BMP.

UC Chairman Hayat Buzdar told The News said that he had been booked in an FIR just a couple of days ago, which was an example of political victimisation by this group.

He said in May 1998, when the elections were scheduled to take place and Buzdar was contesting against him, the government staffers were harassed and tension created in the area after which polls were postponed till the month of June.

He said on the polling day in June, his six supporters were killed as a result of firing by the rivals, but the matter was later resolved through the payment of blood money whose receipts were available.

He added that between 2013 to 2018 when, after losing election on a PML-N ticket, Buzdar enjoyed full state support and had his say in all the uplift projects.

Despite repeated attempts, Usman Buzdar could not be contacted. Sources close to him, however, rejected the allegations of nepotism and corruption against him as attempts to taint the image of Imran Khan's nominee for the CM's office.

Buzdar told a private TV channel that the murder case had been disposed of court and acquitted him. He added that he had nothing to do with the case as the clash had taken place among the rivals and they arranged reconciliation between them besides paying the blood money as the matter pertained to their tribe.

Meanwhile, Tareen, talking to The News, said Buzdar joined the PTI long before the 2018 general elections but all the matters that had been attributed to him currently were not factual. He said the NAB had already clarified that there had been no inquiry against him, whereas the other matter was related to a tribal dispute.

Imran on Saturday came forward strongly in defence of his nominee for the Punjab chief minister, as he said in a tweet that he had done his “due diligence over the past two weeks and have found him (Buzdar) to be an honest man”. He also tweeted that Buzdar had integrity and stands by his vision and ideology of Naya Pakistan.

“Usman comes from one of the most backward areas of Punjab -- the tribal area of DG Khan Division. It is an area that has no electricity, water or a doctor for over 200,000 people. He understands the problems of the people of neglected areas and will be able to ensure their uplift as CM,” he had tweeted a day earlier about his party nominee.

PTI Information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry – the information minister-designate – issued a video clip to clarify the position on Buzdar. He contradicted the propaganda under way against the PTI nominee, saying there was no NAB case against Buzdar nor he had faced a murder trial, because he was nominated in the case without being present at the time of the incident.

“It is a typical political case which the contesting candidates have to face. Firing took place at a polling station and it was alleged that it was done on the behest of our rival. The matter fizzled out afterwards. Such cases are part of our rural politics,” he contended.

On this basis, it would be improper to say that the PTI nominee was not suited for the job of chief minister.

“There is nothing against his character. Buzdar is from the middle class and Imran Khan has picked him up as per his vision. This should be appreciated instead of resorting to propaganda without investigation,” Fawad said.