Chaos in Pak Senate over arrest of PDM workers

The Pakistan Senate session which started on December 30 has become a battleground between the Imran Khan-led government and the opposition on the issue of the arrest of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) workers.

On Friday, salvos were exchanged over the arrest of PDM workers. The opposition members charged that the law enforcement agencies on the instructions of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), were involved in launching a crackdown against hundreds of their political workers before PDM's scheduled rallies across the country, reported Dawn.

"The opposition's movement was being taken as anti-state by the government, despite the fact that no opposition party had resorted to any illegal activity to move the PDM protest forward," said Sassui Palijo of Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

She also criticised Imran Khan for not visiting the bereaved families of 11-Mach coalfield Hazaras who were brutally killed by unidentified gunmen last Sunday.

"The prime minister should have gone there and then taken the Senate into confidence over the tragic incident in Mach," she said, adding that there was frustration among the provinces over this incident.

Taking a shot at PM Khan, she said that he could find time to meet the team of the popular Turkish drama serial Ertugrul Ghazi but not visit Quetta.

Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Usman Khan Kakar said the PDM demands were democratic, but the government cracked down on its workers before every rally and registered cases against them.

He said the movement was struggling while remaining within the democratic parameters and following the ideology of non-violence, but the government was forcing people into rebellion and violence.

The session is expected to become stormier as it is taking place amidst heightened political temperature in the backdrop of the opposition's anti-government rallies held by PDM across Pakistan since October 16.

( With inputs from ANI )