Islamabad - Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday said that a bullet inside his body will be a constant reminder that the seeds of hatred need to be removed from the society.
Inviting all political parties to jointly work to fight the menace of extremism, Iqbal on the floor of house warned that if immediate steps were not taken to curb the menace, already scattered ammunition would be enough to fuel destruction.
He said on May 6, a coward tried to take his life but his life was a proof that protector (Allah) is greater than the attacker. No organisation has any right to declare someone worthy of being killed, in a state, only parliament and constitution decides whether someone is Muslim or not and only courts can decide the scale of punishment, he added.
He said over 2000 religious scholars have decided that only state can declare Jihad (Holy War) and not any group. He said that anyone here becomes a court and executioner and make decisions.
Iqbal was referring to the assassination attempt. A bullet scraping his elbow somehow entered his lower abdomen. Doctors decided not to remove bullet from the lower part of his stomach, terming the operation risky.
Ahsan Iqbal, who was discharged from the hospital last week, thanked all those who visited him at the hospital and named Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He said he was touched when he saw tears in Bilawal’s eyes. Iqbal said Bilawal’s eyes were wet as he has seen so many crises in his life including the assassination of his mother Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.
Many heads were turned when Iqbal pointed his guns towards PTI. He said Imran Khan sent him flowers but those who delivered the flowers were defending the assassin on TV, the same evening of the incident.
We have induced too much hatred in politics, they are spreading hatred (PTI), he adfded. He also showed his displeasure over his media bashing by PTI supporters over the allegations of having a residency permit of Saudi Arabia. They have been maligning me for having a residency permit on a visa of a watchman, I have been waiting for a summon from any court but after receiving none, I want to present my real iqama here, he said.
The minister said that in recognition to his expertise, Madina Institute of Leadership provided him a honorary position of Marketing Consultant from 2011 to 2016. He said the position was an honour not for him only but for the country also. He asked for an apology for baseless allegations against him.
Since Minister named PTI during his speech, Shafqat Mehmood stood up to clear his party position and said his party leaders had immediately condemned the attack.
The moment Mehmood started shifting towards an aggressive tone, Ahsan iqbal walked towards the opposition benches and whispered something in the ears of PTI lawmaker.
Memhmood nodded his head and opted to sit murmuring his party was so big and cannot comment on everything.
As Mehmood sat, PTI Lawmaker Shireen Mazari-known for his polite but friendly style - was quick to remind the parliament how she was ridiculed in the same parliament.
Khawaja Asif abused me in front of the whole parliament but only Marvi Memon opposed her. If you are condemning denunciation then you must condemn everyone who abused anyone, Mazari said. She demanded an apology from Khwaja Asif for his insulting remarks. Around two years ago, the ex-foreign minister on the floor of house called PTI senior lawmaker, a “tractor trolley”.
Opposition leader Khurshid Shah said it was alarming that tolerance was diminishing from the politics.
Farooq Sattar quickly stood and said PPP Chief Minister in Sindh recently used foul language and he should make an apology and insisted that his party has not demanded new administrative units in Sindh. He also staged a token walkout from the house.
Opposition leader came hard on Sattar and said Karachi is not a property of anyone. He said they are killing their own men. Pointing towards Rashid Godail, Shah said that now he cannot go to Karachi.
Khurshid Shah said it was due to the prayers of his mother that Godail was alive otherwise they tried their level best to take his life.
“They are rolling stone now, after separating from their party (MQM) now they sometimes go to PTI and sometimes to other parties, Shah said.
He said all those who were born in Sindh are Sindhis, and they should not talk about dividing their province. He defended his party Chief Minister, by saying that he was referring to those who want to divide or destabilise the province.