Faizabad sit-in wasn't about Khatme Nabuwat, but a sectarian conspiracy: Ahsan Iqbal

Interior minister says consultation for caretaker setup soon

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The sit-in which ended on Monday after paralysing life in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for almost three weeks was not related to upholding of the finality of the Prophethood [Khatm-e-Nabuwwat] but a conspiracy to stir sectarianism, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday.

During his informal talks with reporters soon after addressing a press conference at the Press Information Department, the minister said the protesters were armed with weapons and some “professional protesters” took the police by surprise by launching a “tear gas attack”.

The matter of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat is already decided in the Constitution of Pakistan, the minister told reporters. The sit-in was part of an international conspiracy hatched to stir sectarian unrest in the country, he added.



“Weapons have been recovered by police from the custody of the protesters. They [protesters] were armed with such equipment that the ordinary demonstrators usually do not carry,” the minister said.

“A police contingent cleared a significant [portion of the protest] area and reached near the centre of protest, when it faced the worst tear gassing from a gang of protesters,” he said, adding that the police were not expecting another “force” ready to attack them in the middle of the operation.

The minister said that live courage of the operation by electronic media exacerbated the situation as more protest rallies from Rawalpindi started pouring in. “It was the time the administration halted the operation just to avoid bloodshed”. He reminded that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ordered the administration not to use firearms against the protesters.

When a reporter asked if money had been distributed among the protesters at the end of the sit-in, the interior minister, in a lighter vein, quipped he would refer this question to the director general of Rangers.



Ahsan Iqbal said the government had information that some quarters wanted to create a situation similar to Lal Masjid and Model Town incidents to malign the government. Also, he added, some external players had a plan to incite violence on sectarian lines in the garb of the sit-in.

He said that all state institutions were bound to respect the decision-making authority of the executive but lamented that an administrative confusion was created when ministers were served show-cause notices and forced to take decision.

“We were aware of the problems facing the residents of the twin cities due to closure of roads but at the same time we also wanted to thwart efforts of elements who wanted to corner the government by creating countrywide chaos,” he said.

The minister said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan was not happy with the peaceful end to the sit-in. He rebuffed PTI’s claim of not being on board on the Elections Bill 2017. “Four of the PTI legislators were members of the parliamentary committee that finalised the Elections Bill,” he said.

“If [Imran] Khan sees some international lobby behind amendment in declaration form than one can say the PTI was also part of conspiracy,” he said, adding that it was part of the record that the PTI members never spoke about the amendment to the declaration.

Even when, the minister continued, a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) senator drew attention of the house toward the amendment and asked for voting to restore the original text of the form, it was the PTI, which opposed it and voted against the restoration of the original declaration.



Talks for caretaker setup soon

Iqbal said the government would soon initiate a consultation process with the opposition regarding installation of the caretaker setup ahead of the general elections around August next year.

He said that revised electoral rolls would not be available before April 2018 and holding early elections, as demanded by the PTI chief, on the basis of previous electoral rolls would not be acceptable to other parties.

“I will request all the political parties to help the government get the required legislation passed by the Parliament in order to hold the general elections on the basis of fresh delimitation of constituencies in accordance with the 2017 census,” he said.

The minister strongly criticised the PTI chief, saying that he [Imran Khan] does not qualify to lead a party because of his immature politics. “The way you are doing politics you will never be able to become prime minster,” he said.

Since the first day of the PML-N government in 2013, Imran Khan has been busy hatching conspiracies and destabilising Pakistan. “You are tainting the image of Pakistan and through chaotic politics trying to scare away investors,” he said.

Talking about his Iqama claims, Iqbal said it was part of Global Advisory Committee of the Madina Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship, which is a non-profit institution and for that I never received a single penny. “Just to overcome frequent travelling issues I used that Iqama,” he said adding that he had all the documents which he was ready to produce before any court of law.