Daily Times

FAISALABAD: Five PML-N legislators on Sunday announced to resign from public office due to government inaction against Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah over his controversial remarks about Ahmadis.

The lawmakers, who announced to step down from their positions in assemblies at a Khatm-e-Nabuwwat conference organised by Pir Sialvi in Faisalabad on Sunday, are MNA Ghulam Bibi Bharwana from Jhang, MNA Dr Nisar Ahmed Jutt from Faisalabad, MPA Maulana Rehmatullah from Chiniot, MPA Ghulam Nizamuddin Sialvi from Sargodha and MPA Muhammad Khan Baloch from Jhang.

MPA Nizam-ud-Din Sialvi is the son of Pir Hameeduddin Sialvi, who is also a former senator.

The Punjab law minister came under fire from various quarters for his remarks regarding the status of Ahmadis in the country in a TV show, which he said, had been ‘distorted and twisted’ by some rivals to take political advantage.

The Pir of Sial Sharif has recently stepped up his campaign for immediate resignation of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah. The Sunday’s conference was attended by caretakers of various eminent shrines across the country, pledging support to the spiritual leader and his campaign for resignation of Rana Sanaullah.

In his brief address to the participants of the conference, Pir Sialvi said he was not a political person and that the agenda of the conference solely revolved around Khatm-e-Nabuwwat. “As firm believers of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat, we have gathered with no intention of soliciting support for elections or any political agenda,” he said.

Pir Sialvi earlier claimed at least 15 parliamentarians ‘spiritually associated’ with the Sial Sharif shrine would tender their resignations at the public meeting in Faisalabad.

Earlier this week, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had assured the Pir that he would visit him and clarify the position and remarks by Rana Sanaullah.

Punjab’s Religious Affairs Minister Zaeem Qadri and standing committee chairman Malik Waris Kallu had also given a similar assurance to the spiritual leader that Rana Sanaullah would appear before him to clarify his remarks and would resign as minister if he failed to satisfy him.

A spokesperson of Sial Sharif shrine vowed to step up their campaign if their prime demand – resignation of Rana Sanaullah – was not fulfilled.

Currently, the PML-N government is under immense pressure from opposition parties who are calling for immediate resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah over Model Town tragedy which claimed lives of 14 PAT activists in 2014.

Published in Daily Times, December 11^th 2017.