Seeking security: Notices issued to federal, provincial authorities on Bilawal’s plea

PPP chairperson seeks adequate police, Rangers security, permission to travel in bullet-proof vehicles

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued on Tuesday notices to the federal and provincial authorities on a petition filed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, seeking adequate police and Rangers security and permission to travel in bullet-proof vehicles with tinted glasses.

Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who headed the two-judge bench, directed the deputy attorney-general and provincial advocate-general to file comments of the relevant authorities by the next date of hearing.

On Monday, Bilawal had approached the court, seeking adequate police and Rangers security and permission to travel in bullet-proof vehicles with factory-manufactured tinted glasses.

Bilawal named the federal interior ministry, the provincial home department and the provincial director-general of the Rangers as respondents.

In the petition, Bilawal said he had been receiving threats to his life and security agencies had issued reports that established that his life was at risk. He also sought permission to have his personal guards with licensed arms at his house or in any other part of the country.

The young PPP leader recalled that after the assassination of his mother, former PPP chairperson and Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in December 2007, he and his family were under constant threat from 'undemocratic' forces in the country.

He said that he always had apprehensions about his and his family's safety because PPP leaders had been receiving threats to their lives and property from extremists and terrorist organisations.

Bilawal's lawyers, including Akhtar Hussain and Masud Ghani, said that the PPP chairperson wanted to travel in bullet-proof vehicles with tinted glasses. They said he also wanted security guards possessing licensed weapons to accompany him and his family members whenever and wherever they travelled in the country.

Referring to the reports issued by security agencies regarding serious threats to the PPP chief's life, they said that the security agencies had emphasised the need for security arrangements, including a 24-hour special security cover, during Bilawal's visits to any part of Sindh and other provinces of the country.

However, they said, the request was not being entertained by the authorities at the federal and provincial levels. They maintained that the law and order situation in the country was precarious, which was also evident from various instances of attacks on different important personalities, some of whom had lost their lives.

Therefore, they pleaded to the court to direct the respondents, all law enforcement and other agencies to provide a 24-hour special security cover and allow Bilawal to travel in vehicles having factory-manufactured tinted glasses and have his personal security guards with licensed arms at his house, during travel and while addressing public meetings.

Earlier, the SHC had also allowed petitions filed by Bilawal's father, Asif Ali Zardari, who is the PPP co-chairperson and former president of Pakistan, and his aunt, Faryal Talpur, seeking security, bullet-proof vehicles and permission to have private security guards.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2016.