Opposition leader demands judicial probe into Islamabad violence

PESHAWAR: The opposition leader in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the recent use of force against protesters in the federal capital.

“The chief justice of Pakistan should constitute a fact-finding committee to bring facts to the fore,” said Omar Ayub who is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member National Assembly from the Haripur district while talking to reporters in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) where he had turned up to secure a transit bail.

The PTI leader said the party leadership shared the grief of the families of those who died in Islamabad. He said the financial compensation had already been announced by the KP government for the heirs of the deceased and the injured.

Flaying the crackdown on the PTI workers, Omar Ayub said the PTI workers were peaceful but hurdles were created to stop their movement to the federal capital.

Omar Ayub alleged that fire was opened on the vehicle carrying Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Bushra Bibi, the wife of party founder, Imran Khan. “They would have been hurt had the vehicle not been bullet-proof,” he added.

The opposition leader was all-praise for Gandapur and said he did not sleep even for an hour during the protest. He said the KP chief minister had advised the PTI workers not to enter the Red Zone and remain peaceful.

Omar Ayub alleged that a life attempt was made on him and accused the federal government along with the Islamabad police chief of that. He alleged that a bid was made to abduct KP’s chief minister and Bushra Bibi.

The Constitution did not allow anyone to open fire on the unarmed masses, he said. He alleged that the arms meant for killing terrorists were used against ordinary citizens in Islamabad, adding the arms had been provided by the United States.

The PTI leader claimed that over 300 personnel of the Rangers force entered his native Haripur district illegally. He said when he asked from KP chief secretary and provincial police chief, they said that Rangers were not supposed to enter KP without the approval of the provincial cabinet.

Omar Ayb was critical of the reports of the plan to impose the governor’s rule in KP. “We will never accept it as that will be an insult to the mandate given by the people of KP to the PTI,” he added.

Referring to the reports of the arrival of the National Accountability Bureau teams in Peshawar to take custody of Bushra Bibi, he said the team should instead go for Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to recover what he alleged was the looted money.

He rejected the report that Bushra Bibi had been advised to stay away from politics.

Earlier, the PHC granted transit bail to Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Omar Ayub till December 19. Both were asked to appear in the relevant courts in connection with the cases instituted against them.

The two-member bench comprising Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Khurshid Iqbal also stopped the institutions from arresting him.

The PHC put on notice the federal government in response to a plea to provide the PTI leaders with the details of the cases lodged against the two.