Ishaq Dar holds important meeting with Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
\n islamabad
\nThe federal government Saturday distanced itself from a late-night raid at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi\u2019s residence in Lahore, blaming the Punjab caretaker set-up for the incident.
\nA heavy contingent of Punjab Police Friday night stormed Elahi\u2019s residence to arrest him, drawing strong criticism from the party, which has been voicing concerns against the arrests of its workers and leaders.
\nThe more than six-hour-long police action came to a halt after Sohail Zafar Chattha, the Director General of Punjab\u2019s Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), left the scene along with the police contingent.
\nIn this regard, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar held an important meeting with PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is also spearheading negotiations with the ruling alliance to evolve consensus on holding elections across the country on the same date.
\nDar expressed regret over the raid on the PTI president\u2019s house and violation of the sanctity of chadar and char dewari \u2014 a phrase used to describe family\u2019s dignity.
\nDuring the meeting, Qureshi apprised Dar of the sentiments of the family of Elahi regarding the \u201cillegal attack\u201d at their residence.
\n\u201cThe federal government has nothing to do with the attack on the house of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi,\u201d Dar was quoted as saying in the meeting.
\nThe finance minister added that the raid was conducted by the Punjab caretaker government.
\nDar said he would inform the ruling alliance\u2019s leadership about the reservations of the PTI regarding the police action and would get back to the opposition party on the matter soon.
\nMeanwhile, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal criticised the PTI leaders for \u201cusing women and children\u201d as a shield to evade arrest.
\nSpeaking on Geo News\u2019 programme \u201cNaya Pakistan\u201d, the federal minister said both PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Elahi were not arrested when police conducted a raid at their residence.
\n\u201cWe never used wheelchairs or cried on TV,\u201d he said while criticising the PTI\u2019s leaders for raising hue and cry over arrests.
\nHe said PML-N leaders \u2014 including its supremo Nawaz Sharif \u2014 faced \u201cbogus cases and political victimisation\u201d during the tenure of the PTI-led government.
\nSpeaking on the same programme, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, PML-Q leader and the nephew of Elahi, said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the police raid in a phone call with him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ishaq Dar holds important meeting with Shah Mahmood Qureshi. islamabad The federal government Saturday distanced itself from a late-night raid at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Parvez Elahi\u2019s residence in Lahore, blaming the Punjab caretaker set-up for the incident. A heavy contingent of Punjab Police Friday night stormed Elahi\u2019s residence to arrest him, drawing strong criticism […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-328340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n