ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said the assassination attempt on the Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was not a minor incident, adding such incidents would continue to occur if Rs 1000 was distributed among extremists.
His remarks came in apparent reference to the distribution of Rs 1000 by Pakistan army to activists of Tehreek-e-Labaik – a new ultra-religious political party – each when they were released following an agreement reached between the federal government and Tehreek-e-Labaik which eventually ended a 21-day long sit-in at Faizabad over the issue of Khatam-e-Nabuwwat.
“The nation wants to know why Rs 1000 was distributed,” Nawaz Sharif while talking to media representatives at the National Accountability in Islamabad.
It is worth mentioning here that the 22-year-old Abid Hussain who fired at Ahsan Iqbal in Kanjroor Town of Narowal’s Shakargarh Tehsil confessed to police after being apprehended that he had attacked the interior minister due to Khatam-e-Nabuwwat issue.
On Sunday, Ahsan Iqbal suffered a bullet wound in his right shoulder in a firing incident in a corner meeting at Kanjroor in Narowal. He was rushed to Services Hospital Lahore, where doctors said, he was out of danger and conscious.
Nawaz Sharif further said the public had realized that they were the owners and the decision would also be made as per their aspirations. He said now the public had become aware and they knew the importance of the vote.
In addition, he said upcoming general elections should not be postponed at any cost. “We will never let elections be postponed,” he added.
The former prime minister also reiterated that the people had rejected the Supreme Court’s verdict of July 28, 2017 against him.
