Senate opposition leader files privilege motion against Bhara Kahu SHO over 'discourteous' conduct

Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas on Tuesday filed a privilege motion in the upper house of Parliament against the station house officer (SHO) of Islamabad’s Bhara Kahu police station over his “rude and discourteous” conduct.

The privilege motion comes after a delegation of opposition leaders, including Abbas, was stopped by Islamabad police from travelling to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Monday. The delegation, led by National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai and including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, had planned to express solidarity with protesters participating in a sit-in in Rawalakot.

Khokhar had alleged that Raja Nasir Abbas was also stopped from reaching his residence in Bhara Kahu and was forced to continue on foot after authorities prevented his vehicle from proceeding.

In the privilege motion, a copy of which is available with Dawn, Abbas said that Sub-inspector (SI) Naeemul Hassan, the Bhara Kahu SHO, stopped him from travelling to his residence at a checkpoint.

He said that the officials, accompanied by a large number of police personnel, “approached my vehicle and, in a rude and discourteous manner, directed that I could not proceed further”.

He said that he introduced himself and his purpose for moving onward, adding that his residence was located approximately 2km away from the checkpoint.

“Despite this, the SHO neither paid heed to my explanation nor extended the courtesy due to a member of Parliament. Instead, he continued to behave in an insulting and disrespectful manner,” he said.

“The conduct of SI Naeemul Hassan and the accompanying police personnel amounts to an obstruction in the discharge of my duties and a gross act of disrespect towards a member of the Senate. Such conduct constitutes a breach of the privileges of the House and its member,” Abbas asserted.

The Senate opposition leader has requested that the matter be referred to the Privileges Committee and that legal and disciplinary action be taken against the police official. ...