ISLAMABAD – Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal maintained that he would rather take the contempt of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) than contempt of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi.
He issued the statement while talking to himself after receiving the IHC’s show-cause notice for contempt of court over his failure to take steps ordered by the court to end the sit-in that has created a logistical mess in the capital.
To a question in the notice, wherein the court has inquired under which authority the minister did not take action against the protesters despite clear orders issued by the court, Iqbal said: “Under the authority of a human being who wants to live.”
The court had issued the notice while hearing two applications filed by residents about the disturbances caused by the protracted sit-in.
“I am willing to resign if those residents would agree to their name being made public and being taken on the news every day, to a point where Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi can hear it,” Iqbal further exclaimed while talking to himself.
To the IHC judge’s demand that Iqbal appear in person instead of the interior secretary on November 27, the federal minister said that he can appear in two persons but he cannot say or do anything in contempt of Khadim Hussain Rizvi.
