ISLAMABAD – While a lot of concerns are being expressed at all political, security and diplomatic levels about the increasing presence of US diplomats and their unchecked movement across the country, a PPP legislator on Friday dropped a bombshell in the National Assembly by accusing Interior Minister Rehman Malik of making efforts for the release of the US national involved in killing of two Pakistani youth in Lahore.
An alarming situation developed in the National Assembly when PPP MNA Noor Alam Khan said on a point of order that Malik had called top police officials of Punjab and tried to get the US citizen released. However, Malik strongly rejected the allegations, saying he had made no contact to get the accused released from police custody and assured the House that the US citizen was very much in the custody of police.
Malik also proposed the formation of a parliamentary committee to probe into the incident and informed the House that he had ordered an inquiry at the federal level into the tragic incident in Lahore to ascertain the facts regarding the identity of the US national Raymond Davis. He, however, categorically stated no one would be allowed to breach the law of the land. “This is Pakistan … law will take its course,” he said.
But Malik appeared to be defending the American killer by sharing the version of the accused, saying that the US national opened fire in self-defence after noticing that the motorcyclists drew close to his car and one of them took out a pistol. The minister said it was a provincial matter and the accused was in the custody of the Punjab Police, which he hoped would handle the matter efficiently and professionally.
Later, the minister said no changes would be made to the blasphemy law and there was no committee formed to do so. “If anyone still doubts that, he should come to me and check all documents … the prime minister has also said there would be no changes in the blasphemy law,” the minister said. Earlier, Abdul Qadir Patel, chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Interior, told the House that his committee has already taken notice of the Lahore incident and would summon the interior minister for a briefing soon.
Responding to a point raised by MNA Abdul Qadir Baloch, the interior minister said it was alleged earlier that 6,000 Baloch people were in the custody of security agencies, but once the matter was probed into, it was discovered that only 160 people were in custody. PPP MNA Dost Muhammad Mazari pointed out the deteriorating law and order situation in Rajanpur, alleging that ‘Kaccha’ areas of the district had become a ‘no go area’ for citizens, while more than 100 people had been kidnapped from the district’s border areas.
