PPP demands answers on governor’s guards

MPAs mourn loss of Taseer, worry about security as Punjab Assembly meets for brief session.

LAHORE: The PPP ministers in the provincial government demanded answers from their PML-N colleagues about how police constable Mumtaz Qadri was selected to guard Salmaan Taseer, as the Punjab Assembly met for a brief, sombre session on Wednesday.

“It is in the news that the killer told his colleagues three days earlier that he was going to kill the governor. But they did they not tell their seniors,” said Senior Minister Raja Riaz. “He was shot 27 times but his other guards did nothing. The Punjab government must conduct an inquiry as to how this police constable was put on VIP security.”

The minister said that not enough had been done to protect Taseer, noting that extremist clerics had put a Rs20 million price on his head several weeks ago for his opposition to the blasphemy laws. He also voiced concern about VIP security, suggesting that people would not feel safe with their bodyguards.

“PPP workers are asking us, ‘Why is there a difference in the security protocol for the chief minister and the governor? Why did this Punjab Police constable get assigned to security duty for the governor?’ They ask us, and we ask the Punjab government,” said Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira.

“He was a big political leader. Our workers see it as a political murder,” he added.

“The PPP workers and leaders have a right to ask these questions,” said Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, the most senior representative of the Nawaz League-led government coalition present in the house. “I assure them that we will get the answers.”

Sanaullah said that there would be detailed investigations into the assassination. Islamabad Police is leading one inquiry, he said, since the crime was committed in the federal capital.

Additional IG Nasir Durrani, head of the Special Branch, is leading another inquiry committee to find out how the assassin came to be chosen for the governor’s security detail.

“What’s most worrying is how a man with such beliefs was put in a security role,” he said. The Punjab government will also seek a judicial inquiry led by a High Court judge, he added.

The law minister said that after consulting with their PPP colleagues, the PML-N had decided not to take part in the funeral. He said that there had been an unpleasant incident involving the chief minister and some PPP workers at the Islamabad hospital where Taseer’s body was taken, which was understandable as “emotions were running high”. But the risk of such an incident at the funeral persuaded the party not to attend the funeral prayers at Governor’s House. “Senior Minster Raja Riaz and other leaders advised us to wait a few days and then present our condolences,” he added.

Sanaullah said the governor was a controversial figure, but history proved that violence could not change people’s beliefs. He said that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had always treated those who differed with him with peace and respect, and he was an example for all people.

Wednesday’s proceedings began at around 11:40 am with Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Khan – Rana Iqbal Khan, the speaker, is serving as acting governor – voicing the assembly’s condemnation and grief at the governor’s assassination and sympathising with the PPP and the Taseer family.

Riaz and Kaira said that Taseer had joined the ranks of PPP leaders slain in service of democracy.

They vowed that the party would continue to fight for the country and not hesitate to make more sacrifices in blood for the cause.

Sanaullah said that there was no doubt about the great love that PPP workers had for Taseer and his loss would be felt by all members of the house.

Samia Amjad of the PML-Q expressed the sympathies of the opposition with the PPP and the governor’s family. She said that security and political stability were the most pressing issues facing Pakistan.

The session was adjourned until 9 am on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2011.