Press Release
Lahore: Following the demise of Punjab Assembly member Irfan Shafi Khokhar serious and alarming developments have emerged during the by-election process for the vacant seat of PP-167 Jamaat-e-Islami has alleged that the legal counsel of its candidate Chaudhry Abdul Qayyum Gujjar, Advocate Ijaz-ul-Hassan Ghouri, was abducted prior to the submission of nomination papers. Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore, Zia-ud-Din Ansari Advocate , immediately reached the office of the Returning Officer (RO) along with party office-bearers and addressed the media. He was accompanied by Deputy Secretaries Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore Qaiser Sharif, Abdul Aziz Abid, Dr. Mahmood Khan, and other party leaders.Zia-ud-Din Ansari Advocate stated that the fascist attitude of the provincial government has been exposed on the day of submission of nomination papers for the by-election. He alleged that the ruling party is using intimidation, coercion, and hooliganism to get its candidate elected unopposed. He further claimed that the Punjab Police abducted the lawyer of a provincial assembly candidate and shifted him to Mustafa Town Police Station،He said that as soon as Jamaat-e-Islami leadership reached the RO office, the police officials involved in the abduction released the lawyer. According to him, the sole purpose of abducting Advocate Ijaz-ul-Hassan Ghouri was to prevent the submission of nomination papers for Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Chaudhry Abdul Qayyum Gujjar.The Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Lahore further stated that all gates of the RO office were closed before time, candidates and their representatives were stopped from entering the office, and nomination papers of only government-backed candidates were accepted. He termed these actions as a blatant violation of the Constitution and election laws.Zia-ud-Din Ansari Advocate announced that Jamaat-e-Islami will take this matter to the courts and the Election Commission of Pakistan and will also strongly protest on the streets against this fascism. He strongly condemned the undemocratic conduct of the Punjab Government and Punjab Police, warning that the police should refrain from becoming “more loyal than the king.” He concluded by stating that humiliating and unlawful treatment of electoral and local government candidates will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
