JUI-F senator files privilege motion over visit by 40 men to Quetta homes
JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza has filed a privilege motion over an incident on 4 November in which about 40 people visited two family homes in Quetta. MNA Aliya Kamran has filed a similar motion in the National Assembly.
- About 40 people visited two homes in Quetta's Single Housing Scheme on 4 November.
- The visitors reportedly said they came on instructions of law enforcement agencies.
- Senator Kamran Murtaza and MNA Aliya Kamran filed privilege motions seeking an inquiry.
Senator Kamran Murtaza of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) has submitted a privilege motion to the Senate privileges committee over an incident at his family's homes in Quetta. According to the motion, about 40 people surrounded his personal house, number 70-D in the Single Housing Scheme, on 4 November.
The motion says the unidentified visitors kicked the main gate, climbed onto walls and photographed the inside of the house. Minute Mirror reported that they also photographed the electricity meter outside. Neighbours gathered after the noise, and students who tried to film the visitors were told not to.
The group then went to the family's ancestral house, D-22, a short distance away. According to the reports, the visitors kicked doors there and climbed onto the roof. Murtaza's younger brother Adnan was at the house with women and children. Minute Mirror reported that people accompanying police personnel frightened family members.
Adnan asked the visitors for their identity and the reason for the visit. They refused to give names or identification and said they had come on the instructions of law enforcement agencies, according to the reports. They left after a large crowd gathered.
Murtaza noted in the motion that the incident took place despite his being a Senate member and a senior Supreme Court lawyer. He asked that the motion be referred to the relevant committee so a report can be presented to the house.
Minute Mirror reported that MNA Aliya Kamran of NA 326 filed her own motion in the National Assembly. She said the incident affected her fundamental rights and her privileges as an elected member, and alleged it was linked to political differences with the government and was an attempt to intimidate her.
Her motion cites Articles 9, 14 and 15 of the Constitution and says the visitors showed no legal reason or permission to enter the homes. She asked the Speaker to refer it to the Privileges Committee, seek an explanation from the authorities, and establish who the visitors were and under whose authority they acted.
Background
Earlier khabr.pk reported on 8 November that the Federal Constitutional Court dismissed a JUI-F appeal over a reserved seat for women in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
Why it matters for Pakistan
The motions raise questions about who may enter the homes of elected representatives and on what legal grounds. Families in the housing scheme, including women and children, were reported to have been frightened. The privilege committees of the Senate and National Assembly may now be asked to examine the matter.
