Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Chaudhry Nisar called upon incumbent Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal to refrain from making ‘exaggerated statements’ on crackdown against Islamabad protesters.

In an apparent reaction to Iqbal’s statement concerning a casualty outside Nisar’s residence, the PML-N senior leader said the interior minister was covering up his ‘incompetence’ by making such statements. In a statement, Nisar said no casualty took place outside his residence in Rawalpindi. “Not a single person was hurt outside my residence,” he underscored.

Taking a jibe at Iqbal, Nisar said he was the same person claiming to evict protesters from Faizabad Interchange within three hours and now making ‘baseless’ statements to mask the facts concerning the ‘botched operation’. “The entire burden of abortive crackdown cannot be put on the courts,” he opined.

He said Iqbal should have stood by his administration during the crackdown against protesters at Faizabad Interchange, rather than making lame excuses.

Expressing his displeasure, Nisar said it was unfortunate for a country to have incompetent and irresponsible interior minister as Iqbal.

It merits mentioning here that the law enforcement agencies on Saturday launched a crackdown against Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) supporters and workers to evict them from Faizabad Interchange, who had camped out at the Faizabad Interchange for over three weeks. Hospital sources say at least five people were killed while 188 others were injured during the operation.

The government shut social media and asked cable operators to shut news channels across Pakistan after the protest spread to several other cities of the country.

Published in Daily Times, November 28^th 2017.