Khawaja Asif calls for a transparent inquiry into incident of firing on PTI’s long march to expose real culprits behind this crime
ISLAMABAD, Nov 04, (SABAH): Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has called for a transparent inquiry into the incident of firing on PTI’s long march to expose the real culprits behind this crime.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Friday, Khawaja Asif said using this incident for political gains and hurling baseless accusations against the Prime Minister, the Interior Minister, and others should be avoided. He said a Joint Investigation Team should be constituted in order to ensure transparent and credible probe to apprehend culprits involved in this incident.
Khawaja Asif said that blaming politicians and a senior military officer without proof for being involved in the attack on deposed premier Imran Khan was tantamount to “derailing” the matter.
Khawaja Asif said that these claims were “diverting the incident into a direction where no criminal will be held responsible”.
The defence minister also said that the government “should still not refrain from providing any kind of help that could prove useful in this matter” as he stressed that if the attack was given a political outlook it will become an inconclusive matter of history.
“Attempts are being made,” he further said, “to achieve political objectives by sabotaging the entire incident”. “The federal government wants,” the minister added, “that if there is any conspiracy behind yesterday’s incident, then it should be brought forward.”
The defence minister expressed fears that “if this issue is politicised” then there was a chance that the truth would not come out as “such matters have been buried in the past.”
Khawaja Asif also said that “Imran Khan repeatedly said that he saw blood” ahead of his march on the capital and “today the attack on Imran Khan has taken place under the chief ministership of ‘the dacoit of Punjab’”.
“People have been killed,” the minister exclaimed adding that “God saved Imran Khan and may He protect him.”
Urging the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe into the incident, Khawaja Asif also said that “instead of doing politics on the attack, the attackers should be pursued”.
“They have turned the prime minister, Rana Sanaullah and an officer of the institution into attackers,” he said, “while until the day before yesterday they were claiming they were in contact with the establishment”.
“I condemn the use of this attack to malign an institution,” said the minister.
The defence minister also claimed that Imran, time and again, has used “language” crossing the “red lines of religion” and alleged that “it is because of this reason that a man attacked him.”
Referring to “the suspect’s videos that have surfaced” on social media, the minister said that “it is evident from them that religious fanaticism is behind it.”
Speaking on the floor of the House, Chairman Public Accounts Committee Noor Alam Khan said it is highly regrettable that workers of a political party are involved in running a defamatory campaign against officers of state institutions. He said protests outside senior officers of security institutions are regrettable.
Salahuddin Ayubi said violence cannot be justified for political objectives.
Condemning firing on PTI’s march, Shazia Atta Marri said there should be no violence in protest demonstrations. She said the firing incident should be thoroughly probed.
At the outset, newly elected parliamentarian Dr Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti took oath as Member of the National Assembly on Friday. He belongs to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and elected from Sargodha.
Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf administered the oath. The House will now meet on Monday at 5:00 PM.