ISLAMABAD: In an unusual move, opposition senators, especially those of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as well as, some treasury senators, walked out of Senate on Friday in protest against the “racist” remarks made by PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry regarding Pashtuns during a television talk-show.
“Fawad Chaudhry has made insulting remarks regarding Pashtuns (in talk-show). He has hurt the sentiments of the entire Pashtun community for which he must apologise,” stated Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan on the floor of the house in the Senate sitting presided over by Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani.
Recently, former director general Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Bashir Memon alleged that he was “locked in a bathroom” by the former secretary to the prime minister, Azam Khan, on the order of the then PM Imran Khan following a heated argument with the latter in a meeting.
“He (Memon) took great risk by going to bathroom with a Pathan,” Chaudhry stated with a chuckle— on a news channel when asked about this issue. He was referring to Azam Khan’s Pashtun background.
The former information minister’s remark did not go down well with some Pashtun politicians including those of the PTI.
In Friday’s Senate sitting, treasury Senator Manzoor Kakar from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) also criticised Chaudhry. “The political party that Fawad Chaudhry represents has a huge number of Pashtun leaders, workers, and supporters. It is unfortunate that no one from them has condemned his statement. It is highly condemnable to insult Pashtuns on the media like this. He (Chaudhry), as well as, the anchor of that particular TV programme must apologise,” Kakar demanded.
“Why it is that only Pashtuns are made fun of and ridiculed in a highly derogatory manner everywhere,” asked another treasury Senator, Sardar Shafiq Tareen from Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP). “These kinds of racist remarks cannot be tolerated,” he added.
In a bid to pacify the aggrieved lawmakers, Ejaz Chaudhry from the PTI apologised on behalf of his party colleague. “He jokingly said something that he shouldn’t have said. If someone is hurt by his remarks, I offer my sincere apologies to them,” the senator stated.
However, the aggrieved senators walked out of the house in protest — but re-joined the House proceedings on the intervention of the chairman Senate.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah informed the Senate, Friday, in a written reply in the question hour that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) imposed financial penalties on 13 cooperative housing societies “in view of gross violations” over the last five years. A fine of 185 million rupees was imposed on Multi-Professionals Cooperative Housing Society (MPCHS), Rs181 million on the Cabinet Division Employees Cooperative Housing Society (CDECHS) and a fine of Rs114 million was imposed on Jammu and Kashmir Cooperative Housing Society (JKCHS), Sanaullah’s reply stated.
In another written reply, the minister informed the Senate that the FIA’s Cybercrime Wing received 21,259 complaints of financial fraud in the current year. Out of them, 3,894 complaints were converted into regular inquiries, and 352 cases were registered, whereas, 415 accused were arrested, the reply stated.
The FIA Cybercrime Wing received 4,898 complaints of online sexual crimes from 2018 till date, according to the official data provided to Senate by the minister. Of them, 1,318 cases were registered, there were only 66 convictions and 105 acquittals, whereas, 1,147 cases were under investigation, the data suggested.
“Majority of acquittals is based on the compromise between the parties,” the interior minister stated in his written reply.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.