Provincial legislators from both the government and opposition benches condemned attack on the 'Hujra' of Speaker Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly Kiramatullah Khan by the people protesting against unscheduled load-shedding in the area. The legislators expressed sorrow and concern over the attack, saying it was a serious matter for all members of the house.
They said that the supply of uninterrupted power supply is the responsibility of Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) and Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco), but people expressed their anger through protesting against the elected representatives.
They observed that prolonged unscheduled load-shedding is provoking people against the government and members of the house. Participating in the debate, Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao of PPP-Sherpao proposed tabling of a unanimous resolution against the incompetent attitude of Wapda and Pesco. Javed Abbasi of PML-N pointed towards participation of hooded persons in the protest demonstration.
ANP MPA from Peshawar, Saqibullah Khan Chamkani shared the same views, saying the attack was not on an individual, but on the custodian of the assembly. He called for immediate suspension of chairman and secretary Wapda. Otherwise, he warned, assembly members would move a privilege motion against them. Another MPA Ateef-ur-Rehman attributed the incident to the sheer negligence of Wapda officials. He said that a speaker is the custodian of the house and attack on his hujra is the breach of privilege of the whole house.
Abdul Akbar Khan termed attack on the house of the speaker as tantamount to attack on a legislature. He said electricity is a utility and Wapda is responsible for its uninterrupted supply. He also criticised Federal Minister for Water & Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf for not taking interest in the resolution of electricity-related problems of the province.
Deputy Speaker, Khushdil Khan Advocate condemned the attack saying staging of peaceful protest is the right of the people, but taking law into their own hands is totally illegal and unlawful. He was of the view that anti-people measures initiated by Wapda are provoking people against the government and elected public representatives.
Khushdil Khan called for summoning the minister concerned, Wapda chairman and chief executive Pesco to the house for resolving power-related problems. He expressed complete solidarity with the speaker. Provincial Minister for Livestock, Haji Hidayatullah demanded investigation into the incident to bring the involved elements to book.
Parliamentary leader of PML-N, Pir Sabir Shah said 12 to 18 hours long load shedding, that too in the holy month of Ramadan, will ultimately result into such attacks. He added that today, it was the speaker and tomorrow, residences of other members could also come under attack. He called for the construction of more dams to utilise hydropower-generating potential of the province.
Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour said observing load shedding at the timings of Iftar, Sehri and Taraweeh in a province that produces cheap electricity could have no justification. He said miscreants use such occasion to defame the government. He demanded of the federal government to minimise duration of load shedding in KP.
PPP Senior Minister in KP cabinet Rahimdad Khan defended the federal minister for water and power Raja Pervez Ashraf and dispelled the impression that the minister is ignoring the power-related issues of the province. He added that the minister visited the province several times in recent past and held meetings with ministers and members of the provincial assembly to resolve the issue.
In response to the solidarity of the members of the house, Speaker Kiramatullah Khan thanked the members. He said that the hujra, having no boundary wall, was constructed by his father as a place for holding meetings for resolution of problems of the area. He termed the ransacking a work of the miscreants.
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