Adil Najam
Punjab Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Shumaila Rana, of the PML-N, has been arrested by the Punjab police for allegedly stealing two credit cards and then going on a shopping spree with them. The PML-N leadership has said that the law will take its course. But this adds one more shocking story to what is already a litany of sorts.
The details are bizarre enough not to need an explanation. According to the Daily Times:
Ghalib Market police on Sunday registered a case against a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) female MPA for allegedly stealing two credit cards from a woman’s wallet and buying jewelery and clothes worth Rs 80,000 on those cards, the police said. The FIR No 551/09 was registered against the MPA under Section 379 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), on the complaint of Muqeet Salam, brother-in-law of Zaira Malik of Canal Bank.
The police said the accused MPA Shumaila Anjum Rana could not be contacted so far… He said Salam alleged in the application that his sister-in-law Zaira was in a fitness club on July 7 and found her credit cards missing from her purse. He said Zaira contacted the bank officials concerned who informed her that transactions worth Rs 80,000 had been made on her credit cards. Salam said the banks also informed Zaira that the accused purchased goods from a shop in Siddique Trade Centre.
The police quoted the complainant as saying that the shop owner showed the recorded CCTV footage to them and finally Zaira identified Shumaila, who is not a member of the club. He said they had also received the records of transactions in which Malik’s credit cards were used.
Interestingly, The Nation reports that Ms. Rana is a member of the Punjab Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Auqaf, and more importantly, that she is also a member of Chief Minister’s Coordination Committee for the IDPs which deals with the Punjab Chief Minister’s Fund for the IDPs of NWFP.
The report in The Nation provides more context information:
This time it is not a male parliamentarian, rather to jump into the already-boiling fray of irregularities and illegalities by elected representatives is a female MPA, Shumaila Rana, who was ‘chosen’ on reserved seats to serve the masses. The Pakistan Muslim League-N has vowed to fulfil all legal formalities in investigating the case. On the other hand, if found guilty, she will lose her seat, as no convicted can become a parliamentarian, and stands disqualified as conviction as per the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.
Previously, it were MNA Haji Pervaiz Khan from Rawalpindi and Minister Prisons Ch Abdul Ghafoor of the N-League, who indulged in impersonation and acted highhandedly at the Lahore Airport respectively. Interestingly, the MNA lost his seat after a committee found him guilty, and the Minister was given honourable exit from the charges by the PML-N leadership despite the fact that the committee found him guilty on more than two accounts. Prior to Shumaila Rana’s case, another N-League’s MPA Munawar Gill was indicted in a rape case. He is said to have been found innocent in the case.
The first timer to the Punjab Assembly Shumaila Rana, reportedly found guilty of stealing credit card from another female’s bag, and indulging in ‘illegal’ shopping, is member of the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Auqaf. Moreover, she is also member of Chief Minister’s Coordination Committee for the Internally-Displaced People, which is an offshoot of Punjab Chief Minister’s Fund for the IDPs of NWFP.
Unmarried Shumaila Rana is daughter of Hidayat Ali, and she climbed the ladder of becoming an MPA by virtue of her mother Anjum Ara’s services to the party, as the latter has been worker of the party for about two decades. Anjum Rana, a retired schoolteacher of a private institute, was not a graduate, and after her successful canvassing for her daughter, a reserved seat was given to Shumaila Rana, who is said to be in her mid-20s. She is the first MPA from this family, and has nothing tangible to her credit for which she should have been given the slot. MPA with humble family background, she has been a vociferous supporter of women rights, and their empowerment. She had also promised to lobby for the charter of demands presented by women farmers recently.
She has no sympathy from me at all. But let us also not get overboard.
Such scandals and worse happen everywhere even in advanced democracies. The test is not whether bad people get elected, it is whether the system then deals with them and discourages that behavior. The media is already beginning to do that lets see if the system will also.
Also, the law has to take its course and I am glad that the writer of the post has more sense than most commenters – at this point she is accused. Even if we are sure she did it, the point of rule of law is that she is innocent till proven guilty in a court, so silly talk of embezzlement etc. is just our desi exaggeration.
I see this as a good story because the story is that the media exposed her, the police have acted and her party is saying they will remove her. THAT is what democracy is about, it is not about getting ‘perfect’ people (people in their comments and elsewhere who act or speak as if they themselves are perfect are either lying or dillusional)
An MP just for 80K. Well, good thing is , People in punjab are confident of thier administration as they went to police for filing a report against a sitting MP, I wonder what would have happened if such incident had happened in sindh, the Guy reporting to police would have been abducted by Wadhera or killed by Urban Thugs.
I salute the media …
I am very confident that the media has all the strength to correct the all powerful all corrupt of this country. The thieves in cloaks are increasing finding it hard to adjust with the changed scenario. This gives all of us a new hope …
Someone who can steal a credit card from a fellow’s very personal handbag could also have stolen from everywhere she had access to. Therefore, I strongly appeal to the authorities that her matters with IDP’s fund and other stuff like that be investigated in detail. I also want to appeal to others on this forum to support and promote this appeal and above all support the electronic media for its good work.
Some comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “in logon ko seat kia mil gai pajame se bahar agaye hain …..”
– “choron ke bhe kuch ethics hote hain…but our MP’s……..may allah help us all to get rid of these DACOITS,MURDERERS,AND THUGS….!!!!”
– “yEhi haI… MNA, MPA, Prime MinistER, yaHaN taK k PresiDent saHaB… sUb eK sE baRh k Ek chOoR haiN…!!”
– “At least it should has some caliber as a MPA’s cheating, She has to learn it from Zardari and politicians.
Poor MPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
– “How dumb a person can get? Every body knows there are CCTV cameras in every shop and the authorities can trace the credit cards but still she stole the credit cards and went for shopping spree.”
– “thats awfull ..”
– “I think os ne khud diey hon gey ab phansa rahi hai shumaila ko itni bywaquf or woh bhi shumaila Rana MPA:~O”
– “please tell me where she shopped ,when i was in pakistan some body stole my card number and used it quite well…if any body can tell what were card number………”
– “realling shocking. there is sumting behind the scene”
– “i dnt knw is it true or not but if we see then every body in Pak is using politics as a source of income, in elections they say that v r public servents bt after that they make public thier servents.. nothng can b commented on the things like ths one bcoz in pak leg pulling is our habit. bt when v see the CCTV photage it seems to b true then bank statement and wordings of that shopkeeper. Allah knows who is innocent.. May Allah save our country..”
– “It really appals to see the kind of MPAs Nawaz Sharif has got in his party: 1. One of them was involved in the green channel scandal where the MPA tried to get contrabrand through. 2. One was involved in the use of unfair means when he made his nephew sit in an exam in his place. 3. One of them was involved in human smuggling. 4. Now this one turned out to be a petty thief!!
Mr. Sharif: Where the hell do you get these cheap shots? Tells a lot about yourself, in fact!”
– “yar kya bakwaas hai … peechay par jao ab aik cheez kay . aik yeh GEO walay..upar se ab tum log bhi ?? o_O ..”
– “Well i think it does tend to tell people of the overall state of affairs of our country and how such leaders are a true reflection of our society… I shall refer to quote by Edmund Burke “What is needed for evil to triumph is for good men (and women) to do nothing…” let us say no to all those people who are involved in such bad instances since the whole yeh hum naheen campaign should not be just about terrorism but also say no to a lot of social evils that exist in our society.”
– “we shud kick out such politicians and make sure they dont come back !!..”
– “Jiyooo Nawaz bhai . . .”
– “she is showing her ookat!”
– “I just cant imagine someone being so dumb to do this the way his lady did!! if theft was so irresistible, she could ‘ve atleast done it smartly!!!”
– “she should be hanged so that no one else dare doing so”
– “Ms. Rana is a member of the Punjab Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Auqaf, and more importantly, that she is also a member of Chief Minister
Is she trying to be Zardari, learn from him first, he does stealing a lot but do not leave evidence.
Hope she is not only suspended from the Assembly but given a real punishment. But this is Pakistan she would be saying that she has been framed by the opposition and she is not guilty.
I hope blogger can start a campaign so criminals in the elected offices can not go without punishment.