Daily Times

Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi Thursday reiterated his promise to the nation that those who broke the law during countrywide protests against the Supreme Court’s acquittal of Asia Bibi will not go unpunished, a private TV channel reported.

In a charged speech on the floor of the Senate, Afridi vowed to make an example of those who resorted to violence during the three-day-long protests. Lashing out at the opponents who criticised the government for its deal with the rioters, he said the State will never use force against its own citizens. “There will be no bullets, no sticks used against fellow Pakistanis in ‘Naya Pakistan’. State cannot even imagine use of force against its own citizens,” he said. “[But] we will make an example of those who broke the law. We will take action against those who challenged the writ of the State. I promise with the nation, those who took the law into their own hands will not be forgiven,” he added.

People belonging to some political parties have been found involved in harassing citizens and damaging public and private property during the protests, he claimed. The minister shared that the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) disowned the rioters when the government sat with the party and showed its leaders video clips of those who resorted to violence.

“It is every Pakistani’s right to file a review petition,” Afridi said, referring to one of the terms laid out on the agreement signed with the demonstrators, under which the government will initiate legal proceedings to put Asia Bibi on the exit control list and will not object to a review appeal against the verdict, which was filed earlier in the Supreme Court.

Afridi lauded the government’s efforts for ending the three-day long nationwide protests without bloodshed. He reiterated that all political parties were on the same page on the matter. “We didn’t focus on policy making in the past, that is why it resulted in such circumstances,” he added.

Published in Daily Times, November  9^th 2018.