LAHORE - Seemal Kamran, a former MPA from Punjab, has alleged that she was married to former law minister Basharat Raja but he has been continuously denying this reality.
The ex-lawmaker, who has been active in politics since 2000 and has served as member city district government Lahore from 2005 to 2009 and later as MPA during 2009 to 2012, made this startling claim during a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Sunday.
Sharing the screenshots of her conversations with Raja, Seemal announced to approach the court and the Election Commission of Pakistan to get Raja, whom she married to in August 2014, disqualified from contesting next polls.
Raja, in his 70s, is one of the bigwigs of PML-Q, a party being led by Chaudharys’ of Gujrat and he also served as minister of local government and parliamentary affairs in Parvez Elahi’s Punjab cabinet. He is a practicing lawyer and was born in Rawalpindi.
Seemal, who belongs to an agrarian family of Sargodha, has also requested Ch Shujat Hussain, the former prime minister, and Ch Parvez Elahi, the former Punjab minister, to take notice of her case and form an impartial inquiry committee into it.
Insisting her case was not different from of Aisha Gulalai and Aisha Ahad Malik, she demanded of an independent inquiry into her claims. “Chaudharys are known for their decency and high moral standard. They must not keep themselves silent on my issue as I’m like their daughter,” she emphasised.
Seemal has been an active member of Punjab Assembly who gave tough time to PML-N government during 2008-12. She was elected member of the assembly against one of the seats reserved for women, falling vacant after the death of Ghazala Farhat.
During her emotional presser, she said women in every political party were the victims of harassment by the male counterparts. She further alleged Raja and his family tortured her in many ways on different occasions in recent past.
“I raised my voice on many occasions in the past but it went unnoticed. But now I’ve got courage from Gulalai’s and Aisha Ahad’s case. I will not remain silent now,” she vowed.
She also alleged that Senator Pari Gul Aga, PML-Q Balochistan Women Wing President, was not the wife of Raja yet he was keeping her (Pari) in his house after divorce. Seemal also demanded of a strict action and penalty of disqualification for life for those politicians “who are involved in women harassment and befool them cunningly”.
Basharat Raja and Pari Gul deny Semal’s claim; however, both could not be reached for their comments.