LAHORE  - A regular meeting of parliamentarians taking place at the Multan residence of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday (today) evening is being seen in political circles in the context of political gatherings recently hosted by the estranged PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) at Lahore in the last couple of days.

Some 22 participants including two MNAs, 13 MPAs and an advisor to CM mostly belonging to Multan district are invited to attend a dinner meeting which is actually a meeting of South Punjab Multi-Stakeholders Working Group arranged by an NGO, Signify. Mahinder Pall Singh will be representing the minorities in this meeting since the said NGO is working on interfaith harmony and minority issues.

Also, the issues relating to countering of violence extremism to catalyse larger efforts for peace building will also come under discussion, according to sources.  

Punjab Minister for Energy Dr Akhtar Malik who is convener of this meeting told The Nation that it was not a political gathering at all. It is actually a briefing session arranged by an NGO for the parliamentarians. The minister further informed that Shah Mahmood will not even be attending this meeting since his son, MNA Makhdoom Zain Qureshi will be the host.  

Nadeem Qureshi, a PTI MPA from Multan also said that Sunday’s meeting at the residence of Shah Mahmood Qureshi had nothing to do with any political activity. It is actually a briefing session by an NGO that will take place at Bab al Quresh, Daulat Gate Multan at 7:00pm followed by dinner.

He also said that regular meetings of parliamentarians also take place at Shah Mahmood’s residence from time to time. According to an invitation card issued by the said NGO, the following parliamentarians, some also belonging to the PML-N, have been invited to attend. They include: Makhdoom Zain Qureshi, MNA (Host), Malik Aamir Dogar, MNA, Mohammad Akhtar Malik, Minister, Malik Wasif Mazhar Raan, MPA, Awais Dareshak, MPA, Sabeen Gul Khan, MPA, Nadeem Qureshi, MPA, Javaid Akhtar Ansari, MPA, Mahindar Pall Singh, minority representative, Naghma Mushtaq, MPA, Qasim Abbas Khan, Rana Ejaz Ahmad Noon, Nawabzada Wasim Khan Badozai, MPA, Sahibzada Gazain Abbasi, MPA, Faisal Khan Niazi, MPA, Hanif Khan Niazi, Advisor to CM, Raza Hussain Bokhari, MPA, Saleem Akhtar, MPA, Khalid Warraich, ticket holder, Zaheeruddin Alazai, MPA and Mian Tariq Abdullah, MPA.