The demolition of properties belonging to the family of PML-N leaders MNA Afzal Khokhar and former MPA Saiful Malook Khokhar in Lahore has not gone well with party vice president Maryam Nawaz, who has termed the action by the district government part of ‘pressure tactics’ allegedly being employed to suppress the political rivals.
However, new documents emerging on Thursday are enough to uncover as to why Maryam Nawaz is raising so much hue and cry over the demolition of Khokhar Palace. According to the documents, PML-N’s Saiful Mulook Khokhar had submitted two surety bonds worth Rs 10 million each in an accountability court in Lahore which had issued the release orders of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case on October 26, 2019. This is enough to connect the dots and reveal a bigger picture behind Maryam Nawaz’s outburst over the very much lawful action against the Khokhar brothers.
The Punjab government had demolished several structures around houses of the Khokhar brothers and their relatives near Johar Town in a day-long operation last Sunday. Days after the operation, Maryam Nawaz had visited the Khokhar Palace and had termed the operation ‘an extreme action to punish supporters of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)’.
The structures razed during the operation included houses of Akmal Khokhar and Tahir Javaid (close relatives of Afzal Khokhar and Saiful Malook), a market, back walls and shanties temporarily made by the workers. According to the city district administration, the team had retrieved 38 kanals of land from the illegal possession of the Khokhar brothers during the operation.
