Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) Punjab leadership made an innovative move of highlighting the political victimisation by the Punjab government. The deputy Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Shaukat Basra along with the Opposition Leader Raja Riaz arrived at the IG office here on Wednesday to present himself arrest on an FIR for allegedly grabbing land in south Punjab.
They were refused entry to the premises of the IG office by the police, leading to a protest and sit-in by the PPP leadership in front of the IG Punjab office. They stayed there for a while and then left the premises. Meanwhile, talking to media on the occasion, Riaz said that the property dispute was in fact the fourth case against leaders of the PPP. He said the PML-N was continuing with its politics of retribution. Shaukat Basra said that he was being punished for raising his voice in favour of new provinces. He added that the house over which the case had been registered had been his family home since 1978.
It may be noted that Raja Riaz had held a press conference recently, criticising the PML-N leadership for tightening the noose around its political opponents and directions have been given to the provincial administration and the police for registering "false" cases against PPP and PML-Q leaders.
He had mentioned about a land grab case registered by Haroonabad TMA against Shaukat Basra and his brother. Similarly, the PML-Q leader Chaudhry Zaheer has also condemned the alleged victimisation of Basra, saying as elections were nearing the provincial rulers, feeling "frustrated because of not finding suitable candidates", had resorted to such tactics. The Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah had however pointed out that the opposition is making an issue out of nothing as the case against Basra is 'lawful'.