Angry activists of the ruling PTI on Friday stormed the Sindh House in Islamabad in protest against the dissident lawmakers staying at the PPP-led provincial government’s facility citing “security threats” from their own party.
TV footage shows dozens of the ruling party activists barging into the Sindh House and chanting slogans against the group of estranged lawmakers who have announced voting against their party policy in the no-trust motion tabled against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly.
The development came a day after several PTI lawmakers revealed that they had sought refuge in the Sindh House, fearing the government action as they have decided to vote on the no-trust move “according to their conscience”.
MNA Raja Riaz of the disgruntled faction, known as the Jahangir Tareen group, claimed that as many as 24 PTI MNAs, including women, have taken refuge in the Sindh House.
The annoyed PTI workers can be seen in the video scaling the wall of the Sindh House while some of them smashed the door of the building by kicking it down.
The angry workers were led by PTI MPAs Faheem Khan and Ataullah Niazi from Karachi.
A heavy contingent of the Islamabad police reached the scene and dispersed the protesters.
The police detained eight workers, including two PTI lawmakers from the Sindh House.
The PTI leadership took notice of the situation and Secretary-General Asad Umar directed the workers not to take the law into their hands and vacate the Sindh House immediately.
PPP CRITICISES GOVT: Speaking to the media, PPP leader Sharjeel Memon lashed out at the government, saying that the incident is the failure of the interior ministry and federal capital police.
“The attack on the Sindh House is tantamount to an attack on Sindh province,” he remarked while defending the decision of deploying Sindh police personnel to protect the building amid reports that the government was planning to raid the facility.
“[PM] Imran Khan now wants a clash because he has lost the political battle.”
FAWAD CHAUDHRY: Meanwhile, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the vicinity of Sindh House is a “very sensitive location” because residences of important personalities including chief justice are also located in the same area.
“The PPP and the PML-N should shift the turncoats somewhere else, otherwise this spectacle will remain to continue for an entire month,” he added.
Later in another tweet, Fawad asked the opposition parties to respect the people’s mandate and refrain from playing with their sentiments.
The public anger would have to be faced if the Sindh House was made another “Changa Manga”, he added.
