Barbaric Police Action against students, teachers, workers a reminder of Martial Law: Moonis Elahi

The barbaric torture of students and Pakistan Railways workers in Lahore on Tuesday is a tragic reminder of the brutal and cruel martial law regimes of the past and this has spread a wave of further panic and unrest in the already harassed public.

This was stated by Moonis Elahi, senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League while talking on phone from London with office bearers of Pakistan Muslim League Education Wing who apprised him of the details of Punjab Police brutalities perpetrated on students, teachers and Pakistan Railways contract employees in two separate incidents on Tuesday in Lahore.

Moonis Elahi said the way in which Punjab Police used kicks, fists, batons and tear gas against students, teachers and railways workers in Lahore proved that Shahbaz government had virtually turned the province into a Police State.

He said that the Punjab policemen who were otherwise being discouraged from apprehending criminals and felons because many of them belonged to the ruling elite had been shockingly given a free hand by the present rulers of Punjab to violently chase innocent students and workers and brutally thrash them.

Moonis Elahi said that the whole world witnessed the inhuman and beastly treatment of Punjab Police inflicted on Pakistani students, academicians and workers in the media and it made an extremely negative impression of the country with the outside world.

Moonis Elahi said that the fact that no government high up even uttered a word in sympathy of the injured and against the police high handedness proved beyond doubt that these actions were taken at the behest of the Punjab government.

Moonis Elahi claimed that during Ch. Pervaiz Elahi’s 5 year government in the province there was not a single such gory incident on record and Pakistan Muslim League government from 2002 to 2007 gave the youth and the workers of the Punjab maximum honor and respect.

He strongly condemned the use of state machinery by Shahbaz government against the deprived and oppressed sections of the society and said that the brutal police action clearly reflected the true mentality of the present Punjab rulers.

The World should take notice of Indian Nuclear designs and human rights violations in Kashmir: Moonis Elahi

Indian hegemonistic designs are the root cause of all conflicts in South Asia. This was stated by Moonis Elahi, senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League in a meeting with party workers in London. He said that Indian obsession to become the regional overlord was not only the key factor behind 4 wars between Pakistan and India but also the most important reason for the start of nuclear race in South Asia.

Commenting on the induction of a nuclear submarine in the Indian navy he said that this induction will have far reaching destabilizing effects on the peace of the region. He felt that the induction of a nuclear submarine carrying nuclear warheads will not only pose a direct challenge to Pakistan but will also threaten the peace of the various small countries located along the Indian Ocean.

He urged the world powers to stop supporting India in its unbridled build up of a nuclear arsenal. He said that nuclearisation of the Indian Ocean was a direct threat to world peace.

Moonis Elahi appealed to the world powers to also take notice of the unprecedented human rights violations in held Kashmir. He strongly criticized the inhuman treatment meted out to the Kashimiri leader Mahbuba Mufti in the session of the puppet state assembly where she tried to draw the speaker’s attention towards the rape and murder of innocent Kashmiri girls at the hands of Indian troops.

He said that India could not be allowed to either unleash its nuclear designs in the Indian Ocean or defile or brutally mutilate the honor and integrity of the innocent Kashmiri people. He urged the Government of Pakistan not to let the Indian expansionist designs and the genocide of Kashmiris go unnoticed by the world powers.

Kalabagh dam key to country's bright future: Moonis Elahi

LAHORE, July 25: PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi has said Kalabagh dam guarantees of country’s bright future and the coming generations will not forgive us for any further delay in its construction.

According to a PML-Q press release issued on Saturday, Mr Elahi said the dam was a solution to the current energy crisis and not the temporary IPPs being acquired on rental basis.

He claimed that despite all odds the PML-Q was the only party that kept the Kalabagh dam on top of its manifesto, while the PML-N had quietly withdrawn the dam’s demand from its agenda soon after coming to power.

He expressed his surprise at a recent news item, according to which, “the PML-N will now push smaller provinces for the construction of the Kalabagh dam”, and called it a grotesque Uturn.
Mr Moonis Elahi said he was ready to volunteer his services for the cause and would work with all political parties, groups concerned and stakeholders to develop a consensus on the Kalabagh dam project.

He said that he had even invited Hamza Shahbaz Sharif to join hands with him for a campaign to convince smaller provinces in this regard.

Government’s un-constitutional steps have put the people and the system in disarray : Moonis Elahi

Local Governments are nurseries of future leadership.

Delay in Local Governments elections will result in increased poverty and extremism.
The Prime Minister’s role is not to point out problems but to implement solutions.

Moonis Elahi, senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League has said that since February 08, various un-constitutional decisions of the Federal and Punjab governments have put the people and the system in a constant state of disarray and confusion. Local governments are the bedrock of a democratic system and the recent un-constitutional decision of an indefinite postponement of local governments elections amounts to depriving people of their fundamental democratic rights. Denying people the right to choose their local governments was a despotic move which would have highly adverse effects on the future of democracy in Pakistan. The government should withdraw this undemocratic decision in the best interest of democracy.

Moonis Elahi, said this while talking to a delegation of Muslim League leaders and workers in Lahore yesterday. He said that the Prime Minister by recently dubbing the present state of affairs in the country as a hodgepodge cannot condone himself from his basic responsibility of finding solutions to the problems.

Moonis Elahi further said that Shahbaz government was afraid to hold local governments elections in the province on account of its failure in fulfilling the promises made to the people of the province at election time. He was of the view that Shahbaz government in order to save its own skin and to avoid public embarrassment was putting the entire democratic system at stake. He pointed out at the expensive media campaign of Shahbaz government against Pakistan Muslim League Nazims and the subsequent failure of Shahbaz and his men from proving even one Nazim guilty of the so called irregularities. He said that after its unsuccessful character assassination attempts against the Nazims now the Shahbaz government in cohorts with its coalition partner in the centre had un- constitutionally decided to impose government administrators as replacements of elected Nazims. He expressed his grave concern on the constant violations by both PPP and “N” league of the country’s constitution, the charter of democracy and the promises made by Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto with the people of Pakistan.

He warned the government that the undemocratic and illegal decision of postponement of local governments elections would further intensify feelings of deprivation in the masses and encourage extremist tendencies. He said that the beauty of the local governments system was in its direct contact of Nazims and councilors with the people for resolution of their basic problems. He strongly criticized Shahbaz government’s decision of relying on unelected cronies and incompetent government servants instead of popularly elected Nazims and councilors who enjoyed the trust and confidence of the people.

He declared that Pakistan Muslim League will challenge this un-constitutional decision and demanded that the government instead of shirking its responsibility should immediately announce the election schedule for local governments as per the constitution and the demand of the people.

Moonis Elahi personally supervised PML Elections

A full house raised their hands to re-elect Ch Pervaiz Elahi as the President of Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab yesterday in Lahore. This was the third election of Pakistan Muslim League under the Chaudhrys. The election venue was the historic Pakistan Muslim League House, Lahore - a building which has witnessed all epoch making political movements in the nation’s history taking shape under its roof. The air conditioned marquee was jam-packed with the party’s Punjab General Council members who had come from all parts of the province. The party leaders, MPAs and senior politicians including former President of Pakistan Farooq Leghari and former federal minister Sardar Sher Afghan were also present.

The mood of the election proceedings was buoyant and spirited. It was a time of re election and re union. There were many PML colleagues who were meeting after Feb, 08 elections. With sweltering heat outside along with refreshments the participants were also treated to a medley of patriotic party videos being projected on a giant TV screen inside the covered venue. The sweet mix of Seraiki and Punjabi languages in the air was a clear proof of the kind of support the Chaudhrys enjoyed on ground which was evident from the gathering that included a large number of political workers and party supporters who had come from rural and semi urban areas of the province.

Moonis Elahi, was warmly welcoming the participants inside the covered area. In the last few years his role in party politics has also become very important and the way people were gathered around him was evident of the fact. By eleven o clock the venue was full and there were still people pouring in. Another distinct feature of this gathering was the participants’ uncensored and seemingly straight from the heart comments about Humayun Akhtar, Hamid Nasir Chattha and other members of the dissident group. The beauty of a political party is its workers and there were many young and old League workers present in the gathering which was surely a healthy sign.

Pakistan Muslim League’s women MPAs have now become a very active and vocal political group and their impressive presence at the session was a sign of their loyalty to the leadership. The formal meeting of the Punjab Council began with recitation from the Holy Quran by former provincial minister from South Punjab Iqbal Khan Khakwani. The party provincial election commissioner, Jehangir Jhoja then came to the dais and announced the election results. Amid roaring applause, Ch Pervaiz Elahi and Ch Zaheer ud din were declared as unopposed winners for the positions of provincial party president and general secretary respectively. The conduct of the whole meeting smacked of a political culture characteristic of a mature political organization. After the results announcement the general consent of the council members was sought and the members unanimously endorsed the decision. Following this endorsement, key party members were individually invited to read out resolutions pertaining to rising prices, deteriorating economy, drone attacks, building of new dams including Kalabagh dam, water shortage for agriculture, early return of IDPs and load shedding. All resolutions were unanimously adopted by the gathering.

It seemed quite evident from the gathering and their mood and tone that the Chaudhrys have decided to take on the dissidents and they want to prove that unlike the earlier government sponsored leagues this one has its roots in the masses. Though Chaudhrys are known for their humility but this time round one of their obvious motives seemed to send an all out signal to different players of Pakistani politics that the Chaudhrys are a political force to reckon with.

Pakistan Muslim League ratifies the unopposed election of Ch Pervaiz Elahi as Provincial President

Punjab General Council of Pakistan Muslim League ratifies the unopposed election of Ch Pervaiz Elahi as Provincial President and Ch Zaheer ud din as Provincial General Secretary

Results have proven that intrigues cannot weaken the party the dissidents have proved themselves unworthy of honor and position they got because of the party 5 years of sterling performance by the PML government and our sincere leaders and workers are our real asset: Ch. Pervaiz Elahi

Lahore (8 July, 2009) An overwhelming presence of PML General Council members at the party election proves that the sincere and loyal leaders and workers of the party have shunned politics of intrigue and conspiracy. The real pillars of Pakistan Muslim League are its elected representatives, ticket holders and our 5 successful years of an unprecedented service to the people. These views were expressed by Ch.Pervaiz Elahi during his address to a jam packed gathering of his party members after he was elected unopposed by the Punjab General Council members along with Ch. Zaheer ud din as the provincial General Secretary.

Ch Pervaiz Elahi said that a strong Muslim League was the guarantor of a strong Pakistan and a bright future of the coming generations. He said that Pakistan Muslim League had given us honor and recognition and now it was payback time. He strongly condemned the handful of intriguers who were trying to weaken the strong democratic culture of Pakistan Muslim League. He declared that today’s gathering was enough to silence the intriguers and Pakistan Muslim League was not the Convention League of the past but a vibrant and popular political party with countless dedicated workers throughout the country.

He said that the intriguers had been asking for party elections for the last year and a half and now when the party was holding the elections the intriguers had suddenly taken a u turn.He thanked his party workers and colleagues for upholding the party’s constitution and for reposing their confidence in his leadership. He praised different wings of the party for their effective role in the party reorganization.

He specially recognized the services of the minorities wing of Pakistan Muslim League and said that the minorities had given us support on count of our services for them. He condemned the drawing room politicians for their intrigues against the party and said that no one could dare hijack Pakistan Muslim League from its sincere and loyal workers.Ch Pervaiz Elahi reminded his party colleagues and workers of the various contributions and achievements of PML government in Punjab from 2002 to 2007.He said that his government had done more for the province in its 5 years than all the work done by the previous governments put together since independence.

He said that his government had the benefit of all the people of the province in mind and their development plans were not confined to a few cities. He claimed that to address poverty and deprivation in South Punjab his government had spent 117 billion rupees in the areas of health, education, agriculture, industry, roads and infrastructure development Among his government’s various other services in Punjab he mentioned the up gradation of Tonsa Barage, free books and education upto matric, provision of free medicines in hospital emergencies, tax exemption to farmers with small land holdings and on 5 marla homes.

He claimed that while his government had built 7 underpasses alone the present Punjab government could not even complete one bridge at Thokar Niaz Beg, Lahore. He said that the N League government also tried to do away with the 1122 emergency service as well as the traffic wardens system but failed because of the public approval of these initiatives. Commenting on the grave law and order situation in the province he expressed his serious concern over the 30% rise in crime rate as compared to his government’s highly low rate of crimes. He also criticized the anti farmer policies and decisions of the present Punjab government. Commenting on the issue of power generation Ch. Pervaiz Elahi reaffirmed his party’s unflinching support to the construction of all water dam projects approved between 2002 and 2007 including Kalabagh dam.

A strong Muslim League is the guarantor of strong Pakistan: Moonis Elahi

A consultative meeting of Pakistan Muslim League, Lahore was held on Monday at PML house with senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League Moonis Elahi and President PML Lahore chapter Mian Munir in chair. The meeting was attended by a large number of party workers and supporters. The workers chanted slogans in favor of Ch. Shujaat Hussain and Ch. Pervaiz Elahi and reiterated the workers’ confidence in their leadership.

In his address, Moonis Elahi, thanked the party workers for their unflinching support to the party and expressed the leadership’s firm resolve to protect the country’s interests at all times.
He further said that a strong Pakistan Muslim League was the guarantor of a strong Pakistan and the party workers were its real strength. Among other who addressed the meeting included senior politicians Arshad Khan Lodhi, Mian Muhammad Munir and Begum Mehnaz Rafi. The Meeting was also attended by UC Nazims, Town Nazims and party ticket holders. Senior leaders including Mian Abdul Sattar, Khawaja Tahir Zia, Shahana Farooqi, Syed Faqir Hussain Bokhari, Tahir Siddique, Jehangir Arshad Wains, Kanwal Naseem, Amir Malik Advocate, Mirza Kashif, Farida Sulehari, Bilal Sheerazi also reaffirmed their commitment to protect the party from being hijacked by opportunists.

Party MPAs Majida Zaidi, Ayesha Javed, Amna Ulfat and Seemal Kamran were also present in the meeting and they strongly criticized the dissidents for their anti-democratic behavior. The participants unanimously appreciated the party leadership’s decision of holding timely party elections and praised Ch. Shujaat Hussain and Ch. Pervaiz Elahi for their services to the country and the party. Senior politician Begum Mehnaz Rafi said that the contributions of Chaudhry family for Pakistan were known to all. Among others who addressed the meeting were Arshad Awan, Sh. Umer Hayat, Saleem Aftab Advocate, Dr. Naeem Chohan, Ch. Jawed, Raja Fahim and Bilal Sheerazi.

Punjab Assembly: Opposition insists on penalising Ch. Abdul Ghafoor

LAHORE, June 30: Opposition in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday boycotted the session after the treasury did not entertain its request for a ‘strict’ action against Prisons Minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor for his conduct.
During Monday’s session, Ghafoor had thrown budget books at PML-Q’s Bushra Nawaz Gardezi for hoisting a placard inscribed with “CM Punjabi industrialist is traitor of Punjab.” Following the incident the opposition had walked out of the house.
Before the start of the session on Tuesday, Speaker Rana Iqbal, Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, Senior Minister Raja Riaz, Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira and senior adviser to chief minister Zulifqar Khosa held talks with opposition leader Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, Moonis Elahi and Chaudhry Sher Ali over the issue.
The opposition members wanted removal of Mr Ghafoor from ministerial post, besides suspending him from the assembly membership for at least 15 days.
“Yes we agree to suspend Ghafoor but he will not be penalised alone. Bushra Gardezi will be handed down the same punishment,” a treasury member said.
“You can not compare Ghafoor’s conduct with Ms Gardezi’s. Same punishment can not be awarded for slapping and stabbing,” Moonis Elahi argued and insisted on awarding `exemplary’ punishment to the prisons minister who had been in news for his alleged manhandling of the Customs officials at the Lahore airport.
“Sparing Ghafoor this time too means the PML-N leadership is endorsing a conduct unbecoming to a minister,” the young Elahi said and vowed not to return to the assembly if the opposition’s ‘just’ demand was not met. “We will take to streets and launch a campaign against Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for ‘protecting’ his cabinet member for ‘assaulting a woman’,” he said.
The treasury also insisted on authorising the speaker for any action against Ghafoor or both Ghafoor and Bushra but the opposition did not agree. “We will protest and continue to boycott the assembly proceedings if the speaker suspended Ms Gardezi too,” Chaudhry Zaheeruddin said.
Raja Riaz ruled out ‘unilateral’ action against Chaudhry Ghafoor. “It is not fair to penalise Ghafoor alone in this case,” Riaz said and told this reporter that a treasury team was scheduled to have a meeting with the opposition on Wednesday before the start of the session. “I hope some consensus will be reached between us and the opposition will be back to the house,” the senior minister said.
The speaker is also considering a proposal to suspend the membership of a legislator for at least 15 days for bringing a placard to the house. Though the PML-Q has no objection over the proposal, but it wants the same for future.
During the Pervaiz Elahi tenure, PPP’s Azma Bokhari had brought a placard against the Ch. Pervaiz Elahi and the then ruling PML-Q’s Zeenat Khan had attempted to snatch the placard from her. “We had suspended the membership of Ms Khan for three days for the gesture,” a PML-Q leader said and advised the PML-N to follow suit.

Treasury fails to woo Opposition, Boycott of assembly continues

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

DEADLOCK between the treasury and the opposition persisted over the manhandling of the PML-Q woman members on Tuesday as the opposition insisted to continue boycott of the Punjab Assembly unless action was taken against Prisons Minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor.

However, the treasury members urged the opposition to end the boycott of the assembly proceedings and both the sides would hold dialogue on the issue once again on Wednesday (today) before the beginning of assembly session. On Tuesday, Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammed Iqbal, Deputy Speaker Rana Mashood Ahmed and a group of treasury members, comprising Senior Minister Riaz Ahmed, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, held a meeting with the PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, Chaudhry Moonis Elahi and Sher Ali Khan to diffuse the tension.

Sources stated that members from the ruling parties urged the opposition to end the boycott of the assembly while the opposition members demanded the immediate suspension of Chaudhry Ghafoor’s membership, asking the treasury to play an impartial role in the matter. Talking to the media after the parliamentary meeting of PML-Q, opposition leaders in the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Zaheeruddin and Moonis Elahi said the opposition would not attend the assembly session until the Speaker announced action against Chaudhry Ghafoor.

They said the N-League MPAs resorted to hooliganism in the Punjab Assembly and attacked women MPAs to divert the public attention from the faulty budget and the Kharif water fiasco. Chaudhry Zaheer said it was up to the Speaker whether he wanted to run the house according to rules or turn it into a wrestling arena.

Speaking on the occasion, Moonis Elahi said the assembly record bore testimony to the opposition’s principled stand on various issues. He said the opposition had put all its questions in the house on the basis of credible facts and figures in the current budget session. He condemned the non-parliamentary and unruly behaviour of the treasury members, which included hurling books and abuses at the women legislators belonging to the opposition.

He said “undemocratic and unruly” of N-league was responsible for the derailment of democracy in the past and that the N league MPAs had once again demonstrated their inability to learn from their past blunders. PML-Q MPAs, including Mohsin Leghari, Sher Ali and Mian Shafi, said the unruly behaviour of the N-league MPAs was meant to block the opposition from producing documentary evidence of Shahbaz government’s incapability in handling the recent Kharif water crisis and their un-parliamentary behaviour on Monday was a part of the plan.

The PML-Q parliamentary meeting was attended by PML-Q senior leader Hamid Nasir Chattha, Khurram Nawab, Col (Retd) Abbas Chaudhry, Malik Iqbal Langrial, Khalid Asghar Ghurral, Shafique Khan and Amir Sultan Cheema.On the other hand, the members of ruling parties stated that opposition must give up its demand for action against the prisons minister and held the view if any action was sought against the Minister, the opposition woman member involved in the incident, displaying banner against the chief minister, should also be treated in the same manner.

Sources stated that opposition did not endorse the act of its woman member of displaying the banner but still insisted that membership of prisons minister should be suspended as his offence was of comparatively a grave nature. Nevertheless, both sides failed to develop consensus on the issue and the matter was left unresolved for the next meeting on Wednesday.

Moonis Elahi Speech About Punjab Budget 2009-10