The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) offloaded Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) from South and N
orth Waziristan tribal districts, Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar at Bacha Khan Airport as they were leaving for United Arab Emirate (UAE) to attend Pashtun cultural show in the gulf states.
According to reports, the interior ministry had placed their names on exit co
ntrol list (ECL). Both members of the parliament were due to leave for UAE for participation in Pakhtun Community Culture show scheduled on December 2 in Dubai. Reports said that officials of FIA took their passports into custody and shifted them to its office at the airport.
According
to Dawar, he and Ali Wazir were travelling to Dubai to participate in an event but were offloaded from the aircraft of a private airline before their department. Peshawar FIA director Mirwaiz Niaz confirmed the arrest and said that the lawmaker’s names were on the blacklist and they were wanted by the Swabi police. He further said that the two parliamentarians would be handed over to Swabi police.
Javed Iqbal Wazir, a politician from N
orth Waziristan, expressed serious concerns over the detention of Wazir and Dawar. “Their arrest at this particular time sent
waves of resentment among their voters,” he said. He added that the authorities should release them forthwith otherwise people would protest.
The Khyber Pakhtunkh
wa police had registered FIRs against Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar in different police stations for holding public gatherings. Earlier in August, both the lawmakers were charged with multiple offences including rioting and removing the country’s flag from a building after a public meeting in Swabi.
An FIR was registered under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), including 123-B (removing national flag from a building), 131 (seducing soldiers for mutiny), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 153 (provocation to rioting), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Later, the superintendent of police (investigation), Swabi, sent a letter to the administration of North and South Waziristan tribal districts asking them to arrest the said leaders as ‘they had been absconding.’
In September, a Peshawar High Court (PHC) bench had admitted for hearing a writ petition requesting for quashing of a case registered against the two lawmakers.
Advocate Muhammad Ayaz Khan, who appeared for the petitioner, had argued that the FIR was based on rumours and not facts. He contended that the lawmakers had exercised their fundamental rights of freedom of expression and said that nothing objectionable had taken place in that public meeting.
In June, Dawar was banned from entering N
orth Waziristan for three months by the agency’s political administration. “Dawar is acting in a manner prejudicial to public peace and tranquility,” the local political agent had stated in a notification. “He is instigating the people through provocative speeches against the state.”
Later the PHC set aside the N
orth Waziristan administration’s directives barring Dawar from entering the area.
Published in Daily Times, December 1st 2018.
