Firing by cop intolerable: Shahbaz

LAHORE: While Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) activists held demonstrations against the lawyers killing in Daska, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said he was deeply grieved at the deaths in police firing and firing by a police official was intolerable.
He said the SHO responsible for firing had been arrested and a case registered against him. He said instructions had been issued for submission of the challan in the court at the earliest. He said all requirements of justice would be fulfilled in the incident.
Addressing a meeting at the Civil Secretariat through video-link here on Tuesday, Shahbaz said there was no justification to take the law into one’s hands and damage public and private properties. He said the elements damaging national properties were not doing any service to the country.
He said maintenance of law and order and protection of life and property were the responsibility of the state which would be fulfilled at all costs.
A report was also presented to him about the situation caused by the Daska incident.
Also, the Punjab government spokesman Zaeem Qadri has said the nation knows well those who are doing politics on the Daska incident. Those politicising every issue are not well-wishers of the country.
Commenting on statements of Manzoor Wattoo and PTI leaders, Zaeem said the Daska incident was an individual mistake of a police officer, therefore, criticism of police force was not appropriate.
Meanwhile, opposition parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan People’s Party, held separate rallies on Tuesday to condemn the killing of lawyers in Daska at the hands of police and demanded justice for the bereaved families. Rallies were held outside the Lahore Press Club and participants demanded rulers’ resignation if they were unable to provide justice to the bereaved families.
The PTI Punjab held the rally which was led by Provincial Coordinator and former Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar, opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, Dr Yasmin Rashid, MPAs Saadia Sohail, Dr Nausheen Hamid, Lahore chapter head Abdul Aleem Khan and others.
Addressing the rally, Ch Sarwar asked the PML-N government to resign immediately as it had lost the right to hold the authority after brutal killing of lawyers in Daska district Sialkot.
Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, President PPP central Punjab, accompanied by the local leaders and party workers gathered outside Lahore Press Club to express solidarity with the lawyers’ community. The rally was also attended by President PPP Lahore Samina Khalid Ghurki, Naveed Chaudhry, Suhail Milk, Dewan Mohyuddin, Khurram Jehangir Wattoo, Raja Amir, Advocate Supreme Court, Rana Gul Nasir, Jehan Ara Wattoo.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called for a thorough probe into the police modus operandi to ensure that force is used to protect citizens rather than killing them.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the commission said the use of lethal force by the police did appear to be unwarranted and excessive.
The Daska killings call for a detailed look at why such killings occur and how they can be stopped. It is important that these are more than mere reflections within the police department. Not only must a cross-section of society be consulted in this respect, the deliberations should include and address the concerns of the people and the outcome of the exercise should be shared with the public.
Also, Anjuman-e-Fidayan-e-Mustafa leaders strongly condemned the shooting of lawyers by police in Daska that resulted in lawyers’ agitation across country.
Mufti Najeeb Ahmad Hashmi, Hafiz Akbar Jatoi, Saleh Muhammad Shah, Tanveer Qadri, Saeed Ahmad Chishti and Qari Ishaq Madani expressed sorrow that resorting to violence by lawyers community, especially the damaging public and private property was equally bad response.
Agencies add: Former president Supreme Court Bar Asma Jahangir said on Tuesday lawyers reject formation of a judicial commission on Daska incident.
Talking to reporters, she said the government had been forming judicial commissions every other day to investigate issues. The commission should be formed with members of civil society in it, who should be probing the causes of Daska incident.
Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi on Tuesday expressed grief over the killings in Daska. The reference was also attended by Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamir Farooq, President IHC Rana Aleem Khan Abbasi, Vice Chairman Islamabad Bar Council Shoaib Shaheen, Riasat Ali Azad and a large number of other lawyers.