-Elahi accuses Sanaullah of using IB to ‘trace location’ of MPAs ahead of CM election
By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: PTI leader and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari on Tuesday claimed that staff at her Islamabad residence had discovered a “voice recorder” in her bedroom a day earlier.
“I was at Banigala yesterday when I received a call from my domestic worker that a device had been attached underneath a coffee table in my bedroom,” she said at a press conference in Islamabad alongside Shibli Faraz.
The former minister said she initially thought the device in question was a USB. But upon further investigation, we discovered that it was a “voice recorder”, she said, adding that the device was an “American model”.
She further claimed that the device was the same as the “listening device” found at PTI chief Imran Khan’s residence last month.
“The question that arises is who installed it? That too in my bedroom. We have our doubts regarding who is behind it. But I want to highlight that this is a violation of the Constitution.” Sharing details about the device, she said that it was traceable and had a mic through which “everything could be heard”. “What are they trying to find out?” she asked, stating that the state had “no limits”.
“What more do you want to achieve? Fake cases have been lodged against us. Our mobile phones have been tapped. The law and the Constitution has been turned into a joke.”
The ex-minister claimed that the concept of privacy had vanished from society, adding that all dissenting voices were being subjected to this ordeal.
“But I will stand up against this and file a constitutional petition in the Islamabad High Court. They have infringed on my right to privacy and protection.”
She also urged the government and the state to be cautious as the people in the country were angry because of the foreign conspiracy — which the PTI claims was hatched to oust its government — and were standing up against the state.
“You saw the results of the Punjab by-elections. But it seems like the agencies are still not understanding [the situation],” she said.
“Whether it be neutrals or any other secret agency, no one can silence us,” she said, vowing to expose everyone behind such tactics.
Later, PTI leader and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin said the “bugging of Mazari’s home is regrettable”. “Where is the constitutional protection to the citizens of Pakistan?” he asked.
Without naming anyone, PTI leader Asad Umar said the alleged bugging showed “both how desperate these people are and how much they fear her”.
Separately, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi on Tuesday accused Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of using the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to “trace the location” of legislators with the intent to influence them ahead of the chief minister’s election on July 22.
The Supreme Court had on July 1 ruled that a new Punjab chief minister election would take place on July 22 and said incumbent Hamza Shehbaz would remain in office till then as it heard the PTI and the PML-Q’s pleas against Hamza’s election and oath-taking.
Addressing a press conference alongside PTI and PML-Q leaders in Lahore, Elahi, who is himself is a candidate for top slot, said IB Director General Fawad Asadullah “must refrain from such acts as he was monitoring the locations of PML-Q and PTI lawmakers at the behest of Shehbaz Sharif and Sanaullah”.
“It is my warning to the IB head that he must stop doing this.” He went on to allege that PM Shehbaz had “formed a cell” specifically for the purpose to keep watch on rival MPAs as the chief minister’s election approaches.
“They lost the public trust and now they are resorting to such cheap tactics,” Elahi added. In response to a question on whether any “other forces” were backing the IB, the PML-Q leader said “only the prime minister is backing it”.
He also claimed that a man associated with the PML-Q who had businesses overseas was also recently picked by the IB from the Lahore airport “for no reason”.
PTI leader Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, who was seated next to Elahi, informed reporters that the party had endorsed Elahi as its nominee for the Punjab chief minister.
“A letter has been dispatched to all lawmakers at the directives of party chief Imran Khan and the party members will reach Lahore tonight for a meeting which will be held tomorrow.”
He said Imran will also reach Lahore Wednesday (today) and stay in the provincial capital for the next two days.
He was of the view that PTI had the support of 188 MPAs while the PML-N had 173 to 174 lawmakers, emphasising the gap could never be filled.
Rasheed said free and fair polls were the only solution and warned that the political situation would deteriorate further if any “intervention” was made in the elections.
Speaking on the occasion, PML-Q leader Amir Saeed Rawn said it the manner in which the IB was being used was “shocking”.
He said the man detained by the IB from the Lahore airport on June 19 “was forced to give a statement that Parvez Elahi is involved in money laundering”.
Rawn also warned the police to desist from misusing their authority, saying “a list will be prepared after July 22 and no one will be forgiven”.
