ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Friday that attack on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan is a clear case of religious extremism as the culprit has confessed in his leaked video statement.
While addressing the press conference, the minister said that intolerance is being mounted in the country and there is a dire need to curb this menace.
“We were facing the issue of religious extremism but now we have come across a new challenge of political extremism,” he added. He further said that Imran Khan should change his attitude. He also said that Imran Khan should re-evaluate his security arrangements and made appropriate changes to beef up the level.
While commenting on the leaked video statement of the attacker, he said that making video viral is a dangerous practice. He said that it is matter of concern that FIR of the incident has not been registered so far. He said that perhaps PTI leadership wants to register FIR as per their own wish and desires.
The minister said that no efforts were made by the government to halt the long march, adding that the government is afraid of neither Imran Khan nor long march.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif has said that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is trying to give a political hue to the gun attack on Imran Khan during Thursday’s long march claiming that the initial report shows a religious fanaticism behind the incident.
Taking the floor of National Assembly on Friday, the minister said that the direction of the attack on Imran was being diverted as the party started accusing politicians and a senior officer of a state institution.
“The direction of the incident is being diverted to a point where you will not find any culprit of the attack. After sabotaging all this, they (party leaders) have tried to achieve political objectives,” he added.
Kh Asif further said that yesterday’s incident brought humiliation for us. “All the world is looking at us that what will become of Pakistan after this incident,” he added.
He said that the federal government wanted to expose if there was any conspiracy behind this incident. If an attempt will be made to give a political colour to this incident then these kinds of issues have already buried in history, he added.
The defence minister said that the PTI chief time and again said that he was seeing ‘blood’. This incident has occurred under the rule of a ‘dacoit chief minister’, he said adding that dead bodies were fallen but Allah saved Imran Khan.
He called for the formation of a JIT on the assassination attempt on Imran. “We should go after the culprits of the incident instead of going after the politicians, Asif maintained.
He said that the PTI chief accused rulers and an officer of a state institution. Only the other day, Imran claimed that he was in contact with the establishment, the defence minister observed adding that he condemned any attempt to use this incident to defame an individual or institution.
Earlier in the day, the parliamentarians unanimously condemned the gun attack on Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan in Wazirabad during his Long March in strong words, and called for a transparent probe to unveil the facts behind the incident.
While addressing the National Assembly session, the members National Assembly termed the untoward incident as a conspiracy against the security forces and the country to sabotage peace and stability in the country.
Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Shazia Marri condemning the incident at National Assembly floor said that the protest was the right of every political party in democratic countries.
She stressed that peaceful protests should not be turned into violence and bloodshed as it was the responsibility of the political leaders to make sensible decisions in such situations.
She urged the leaderships of all political parties and especially the PTI to be careful while passing statements about the incident as they should abstain from blaming the national institutions.
She demanded a full-fledged investigation of the incident sans any external influence to ensure transparency.
“We get this country with lots of sacrifices and bloodshed. The political leadership played vital role in that regard. It is incumbent upon all of us to safeguard our motherland,” she added.
She requested PTI Chairman Imran Khan to observe patience over the incident and avoid making any irresponsible statement till the investigation was completed, adding, “You have been the prime minister of Pakistan and now you are also making all-out efforts to regain power through illegal means.”
She took exception to the PTI chair and said, “When you [Imran Khan] are in the government you behave like a proud man but when you are not the prime minister then you desecrate every institution not extending favours to you.”
She said that PPPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had showed patience over the Shahadat (martyrdom) of Mohtarma Benzair Bhutto for the sake of the country.
“Moreover, Bilalwal Bhutto Zardari has also strongly condemned the firing incident,” she added.
On the occasion, MNA Syed Ali Musa Gillani requested the members to also pray for the PTI worker who died in the incident and said that workers were the real asset of political parties.
MNA Mohammad Aslam Bhootani also condemned the incident and requested the federal government to help the provincial government in a transparent investigation.
He also requested the prime minister to release the development funds faster so that the members of the parliament could utilize them in their constituencies.
He also lauded the prime minister for approving the funds for the opposition parties for the first time in the country’s history.
MNA Noor Alam Khan said that PTI leadership was criticizing the security forces while linking the firing incident to them for their political gains.
He said that Pakistan Army personnel were performing their duties on the borders to protect their homeland and the people.
“PTI Leadership is dragging the Pakistan Army into the incident because they refused to interfere in the political matters of the country,” he added.
He also urged the political parties and Speaker National Assembly to bring a resolution in the Parliament House to support security forces in this difficult time.
He lauded the patience showed by Pakistan Army in this situation in the country’s interest.
He also requested the Supreme Court to intervene into the matter and ban such political leaders and parties who were giving controversial statements against the national institutions.
Newly restored MNA Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti from Sargodha said that PTI government had registered fake cases against the opposition leaders.
He said that PTI government came into power by vote theft in a controversial election.
MNA Slahuddin Ayubi said that political chauvinism was at its peak in the country.
“Imran Khan is a political leader and he does not have any link to religion. Khan is using religion card to motivate the youth for his political interests. We have to run this country through the Parliament,” he stated.
Imran Khan wanted to destroy all institutions if they would not help him to regain power through illicit means, Ayubi said.
“It is the history of PTI that whenever they come to Islamabad, their protests become violent and they attack the national institutions. Now again they are coming with arms to destabilize the country,” he said.
