Karachi
A TV show host and his associate were arrested inside the hall of the Sindh Assembly on Friday when they caused a security scare by a carrying a loaded pistol while the session was in progress and the chief minister too was present in the House, writes Azeem Samar.
Iqrar-ul-Hassan, who is associated with a private TV news channel, made his dramatic entry inside the hall along with his associate carrying the weapon, a move which the TV channel described as a “sting operation” to expose lapses in the security arrangements for the provincial assembly’s premises.
The TV show host caused an alarm in the house when he mysteriously managed to slip right inside the house from the guests’ gallery of the assembly while crossing through an electric gate system that has a metallic bar controlling the entry and exit of the people into the House.
The dramatic episode started when Hassan, after managing his way inside the House, reached almost to the front row seats where parliamentary affairs minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and environment minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro were seated.
Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani spotted the presence of a stranger inside the House and told him to identity himself.
On the speaker taking notice of a stranger’s presence in the House, the assembly’s staff told Hassan to return to the guests’ gallery where he was earlier seated.
It was then that Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, shed light on the issue.
The opposition leader informed the speaker that the person who had managed to sneak inside the House was a famous TV show host famous for exposing corruption and the authorities’ failures.
Hassan said the TV host had informed him that a person was present in the House along with a weapon.
The speaker said if that was the case, then the security of the assembly should be held accountable while the TV host should be asked about the person carrying a weapon.
He said it was inappropriate to sneak into the House in this manner.
Khuhro said all members were ready to go through a thorough security search.
He added that it was an alarming issue and as a journalist Hassan should know that his action was illegal.
The opposition leader said the security arrangements for the assembly were so poor that several persons in civvies were roaming freely inside its premises carrying weapons with them.
The climax of the drama reached it peak when on being asked by the TV host, a person sitting next to him in the guests’ gallery took out a pistol tucked in his shalwar.
The pistol was handed over to an assembly employee who then and handed over the weapon to the provincial assembly secretary.
The secretary in turn passed on the pistol to the speaker who was presiding over the session.
The speaker carefully examined the pistol and immediately unloaded its chamber.
While these dramatic events were under way inside the House, the opposition lawmakers shouted slogans of “shame, shame” against the security lapse.
The opposition leader said it was a highly alarming issue that a person had managed to bring a weapon with him inside the house so easily when so much money was being spent on the assembly’s security. He noted that the lawmakers had already received threats from banned organisations.
The speaker asked home minister Sohail Anwar Siyal to conduct an inquiry into the incident. The home minister said an inquiry would be conducted but first the people who had committed the offence of brining a weapon inside the assembly would be arrested.
He requested the speaker to direct the assembly’s security staff to arrest the TV host and his associate till police reached the assembly. Siyal also asked the speaker to allow police to enter the assembly hall to arrest the TV host and his associate.
The opposition leader again intervened into the matter by asking as to who would arrest the two men when there were no security personnel present inside the assembly.
The speaker said that no police personnel in uniform would be allowed inside the assembly’s premises as only Special Branch cops in civvies could come inside to arrest the two men.
Later, Special Branch personnel in civvies came inside the assembly hall and whisked away Iqrar-ul-Hassan and his associate.
The home minister said a report of the incident would be presented before the House and due action taken if media personnel or police were found facilitating the TV show host and his associate.
The TV host and his associate were taken to the Arambagh police station. Till the filing of this report, the two men were still at the police station and a case was yet to be lodged.
The home minister asked DIG South Munir Ahmed Shaikh to conduct a probe into the incident. The Sindh Assembly speaker announced that all passes issued to visitors, except those for media personnel, would be revoked from Monday. He added that the security employees who were found responsible for this lapse would be sacked.
In a statement, Khuhro said a person had used the garb of journalism to carry out an inappropriate act.
He added that the TV show host’s action had rendered all journalists suspicious in the eyes of security personnel.