Saeed Ghani labels Punjab ‘police state’
Pakistan People’s Party MPA from Karachi’s PS-114 and former Senator Saeed Ghani has condemned the Punjab Government, calling it a semi-autonomous ‘police state.’
He said this speaking to Pakistan Today while condemning the alleged murder of a People’s Student Federation leader that recently died in Lahore.
After condoling with the family of the deceased, Saeed Ghani told Pakistan Today that this was a prime example of the tactics the Punjab government believed in, and how far they were willing to go to protect their own.
“This incident is an apt model of the Punjab, it involves police brutality, corruption, negligence of the public health sector and the undue involvement of government in investigation matters.”
Labeling the Punjab police a tool of the establishment, Saeed Ghani said that he and his colleagues had done all they could but they did not have high hopes from local police.
Meanwhile, the PPP and PSF have since then renewed their calls for justice to be done in the case of PSF leader Zohaib Gondal, saying that the Punjab Police had let the case go cold to protect their own.
Former President of the PSF Lahore chapter, Zohaib Gondal had allegedly been attacked by four police constables at Lahore’s Kalma Chowk flyover according to witnesses. According to their testimony, the police officers had stopped their car and demanded that Zohaib pay them off if he wanted to go, when he refused, a scuffle ensued in which he was tossed from the top of the Kalma flyover. He was then admitted to the Jinnah hospital where delays in shifting him to the ICU resulted in his death.
The incident had back then been immediately condemned by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. It has since then been highlighted by a number of leaders including Qamar Zaman Qaira, and now Saeed Ghani.
According to the police, an FIR has been lodged against two persons and the case is under investigation. However when asked for details, none were provided and it was hinted that the deceased and his companions had become rowdy at being stopped, which is why the scuffle started.
Saeed Ghani responded in turn, saying that if this was so, the police should carry out the investigation rather than using delaying tactics.
“There are five to seven witnesses for this crime; there are also security camera’s from which incriminating footage can be take. If they think we are lying, then they should prove it” he said.
He went on to say that Zohai’s family was greatly distraught and confused as to why their son was killed and why nothing was being done about it.
He went on to say that the PPP believes that even terrorists and criminals should be tried before being punished, but it seems like the Punjab police believes in punishing complete innocents without any proof or legal proceedings.
Expressing his hopelessness in the Punjab government, he said the only way to get justice for Zohaib would be for the courts to pick up on this.
“The Supreme Court needs to take this up as it is a case in point of the Punjab government’s failure at law enforcement” he concluded.