Firing on journalists triggers 'Opp blast in PA

LAHORE - A bullet fired Monday from seemingly nowhere in the high security zone around the Punjab Assembly building hit and injured a photojournalist in the media camp set up left of the assemblys main entrance. The incident raised questions about the so-called foolproof security arrangements made for the sensitive buildings. The incident took place when the Punjab Assemblys 23rd session was in progress and Leader of the Opposition, Raja Riaz was coming down on Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on various counts. He later added fury to his rhetoric, calling the incident a planned move by the Punjab government to suppress the oppositions voice, which, he said, for the first time has given the government a tough time. Raja believed that the event was orchestrated to divert the medias attention from what was happening inside the House on the issue of the Unification Bloc. The incident spread panic both inside and outside the assembly, and the speaker had to adjourn the sitting initially for 10 minutes in expression of solidarity with the journalists who boycotted the proceedings to register their protest. The speaker later fully adjourned the House on the demand of representative bodies of the media. Around 80 journalists from different media organisations were present inside the camp when the bullet, piercing through the tent, brushed one of their colleagues. It seemed to have come from the assemblys boundary wall towards Wapda House. An FIR (No. 315) has been registered with Qila Gujjar Singh Police Station on the complaint of journalists. Earlier, in continuation of his tirade against the PML-N, Raja Riaz alleged that the Punjab government had frozen development funds for all schemes in the constituencies of PPP legislators. He asked the government to release the funds till March 17 (Thursday), failing which the opposition will launch an aggressive movement against the government. He also informed the House that Shahbaz Sharif stood disqualified as chief minister the day he was elected from the Rawalpindi seat in a by-election.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt