Death threats to senators: Senate orders probe into threatening letters

Raza Rabbani, Zahid Khan and Ishaq Dar get hate mail ‘for demanding treason trial of Musharraf’.

ISLAMABAD:

The upper house of parliament on Thursday ordered a thorough probe into threatening letters to three senators, warning them of serious consequences, who stress on trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on charges of treason.

Leader of opposition in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan informed the house on a point of order that Raza Rabbani of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Senator Ishaq Dar of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Zahid Khan of Awami National Party (ANP) received the letters.

The senators have been warned, in most foul language, that they would be kidnapped and killed, he said.

The Senate secretariat received the two letters addressed to Senator Raza Rabbani and Senator Zahid Khan, asking them to stay in their limits or else be ready to face the consequences. The letter to Rabbani was in Urdu and the one written to Zahid Khan was in Punjabi. Zahid Khan told the house that the name of Senator Ishaq Dar was also included in the letter addressed to him by unknown persons.

Chairman Senate Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari directed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to probe these threatening letters besides ensuring security to the senators and also conduct an inquiry into the matter.

Ahsan said the handwritten letters must have been posted by a Musharraf loyalist.

He said copies of these letters will be provided to the authorities concerned for holding a thorough investigation into the matter.

Earlier in the threatening letter written to Rabbani, only names of Zahid Khan and Raza Rabbani were mentioned, but in the second letter addressed to Khan, written in Punjabi language, the name of Ishaq Dar was also included.

Leader of the house Raja Zafarul Haq assured the house that a neutral team will be appointed to probe the matter, adding that such actions to silence the elected representatives cannot be tolerated.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2013.