Pakistan: Clashes erupt between Opposition lawmakers & police during budget session

On Friday, June 18, clashes erupted between Opposition lawmakers and supporters with police at the Balochistan Assembly when police arrived at the assembly to open gates that were locked by opposition parties during the budget session. Talks turned intense between police personnel and Opposition lawmakers, which lead to a tense situation. 

Amid massive demonstrations by opposition lawmakers and their supporters, the budget session in Pakistan's Balochistan Assembly started a few hours later than the scheduled time.

Dawn newspaper reported, protesting over the issue of unfair distribution of funds, opposition lawmakers had blocked access to the provincial assembly premises to prevent the presentation of the provincial budget for the new fiscal year. 

The opposition members locked up the assembly gates and prevented administrative officials from opening the gates due to which the session could not commence for two hours. Also, the opposition members and their supporters clashed with police personnel.

This comes as the opposition lawmakers from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Balochistan National Party-Mengal, and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami party have been protesting for several days against their neglected constituencies in the budget.

On Thursday, opposition parties had blocked national highways passing through many cities and towns of Balochistan.

According to the Pakistani daily, the protesters had chanted slogans against the provincial government and alleged that non-elected politicians were being granted funds and members of the provincial assembly from the opposition were being ignored just because they did not belong to the ruling party.

Earlier on June 11, the Pakistani Opposition, with placards in hand, protested against Imran Khan's govt as Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin presented the budget for the year 2021-22. 

Imran Khan Tells Pakistan Cops 'no Holy Cows'

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan going overboard in his attempt to crack down on corruption made an odd statement asking the police to act against lawbreakers regardless of their position. He said that there were no ‘holy cows’ and law enforcers should not be worried about anything while performing their duties.

Stressing on the importance of effective policing, the PM said a country generates more revenue when its law-and-order situation is stable because it ensures the safety of investments. “The capital (Islamabad) houses foreign embassies and missions, and when the environment is safe and secure (in the city), it has a big effect on visitors, and this leads to prosperity in the country,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the law enforcement does not mean putting only poor vendors in jail. Instead, police should rather be lenient to them but strict to the powerful law violators, he added.

(With ANI input)

(Image credit: AP/REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)