Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Thursday said Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Core Committee have strongly condemned the lawyers attack at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).
The Core Committee, which met here with prime minister in the chair, declared that zero tolerance against such mongers of violence at public departments providing facilities to the general public should be observed. It decided that the party’s legal wing should start consultation with the lawyers’ bodies and associations, and bar councils, besides taking the apex judiciary on board for devising a robust policy to discourage such law-abettors among the ranks of the lawyer community, Dr Firdous told media after the Core Committee meeting.
She stressed that the legal fraternity should pinpoint such black sheep and expel them from the bar associations. She said the entire lawyer community should not be blamed for the heinous criminal act as miscreants were merely a handful who would be identified from the video footages and punished in accordance with the law. She said the prime minister was briefed on the PIC attack issue by the Punjab chief minister, inspector general of police and chief secretary, whereas the final report was yet to be presented.
Dr Firdous said the Core Committee focused on four key agenda items, including inflation that had put serious burden on the masses and initiated a crisis in the country. She said inflation was extensively discussed by the Core Committee. The party leaders presented various proposals to control price hike in the markets. “The recommendations of the committee would be sent to Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan where we have our coalition governments for implementation,” she added.
Dr Firdous said the prime minister was briefed on positive economic indicators, relief measures taken to facilitate the general public and the overall political situation prevailing in the country. The prime minister, she said, directed the committee members to complete party’s restructuring at the earliest, and also create mass awareness on the importance of local government system and the efforts made by the government to control inflation. He also reviewed steps taken by the provincial governments to curb inflation. She said the prime minister emphasized the need to strengthen the parliamentary committee constituted for the appointment of chief election commissioner and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan. Expressing the hope that consensus would be developed between the opposition and the government, the Core Committee members observed that in case of disagreement, the latter should set its own priorities over the matter.
Dr Firdous said the social media cell in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was being upgraded as a digitalized wing. “It is a strange that all the political leaders seeking bail from the higher courts on medical grounds are going to their homes instead of hospitals where the ‘critical patients’ like them can be cured,” she wondered.
She said a well-coordinated system was being devised to ensure smooth dispensation of facilities to the people at different public institutions and to trickle the impact of reforms undertaken by the PTI government down to the masses while removing all the hindrances in that regard.
Dr Firdous said the Core Committee had a serious debate on the governance issues, particularly in the administrative and financial departments, including revenue and police, which had direct interaction with the masses. She said there was consensus that no leniency should be observed in the accountability process as Prime Minister Imran Khan also wanted to ensure an across the board accountability of the corrupt.
To a question, she said the district management and price magistrates’ empowerment to control artificial price hike in the markets was under discussion in Punjab whereas a special and technology based system would be introduced in this regard.
Separately, Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday telephoned Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan and took details of the shocking incident of a clash between doctors and lawyers at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in Lahore.
The prime minister expressed regret over the tragedy and asked about wellbeing of the minister, who was manhandled by the charged lawyers when he attempted to calm down the situation. He appreciated Chohan for keeping a watchful eye on the incident and arriving on the spot to help resolve the dispute. He said nobody can be allowed to attack hospitals, adding that the government is responsible for protection of every segment of the society. “The PIC incident is shameful […] the wise strategy of Punjab government has saved the situation from deteriorating further,” he said, and directed the Punjab government to take concrete steps for preventing such incidents in future. The prime minister said that the incident should not lead to a dampening of the spirits.
