Parliament should be respected like army and judiciary: Ahsan

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal has said parliament should also be treated as a sacred institution like the army and the judiciary.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he said the Panama trial had dented the country’s economic momentum, causing over $14 billion loss to the national kitty. “Prudent policies have resulted in good economic momentum during the last four years. But despite jerks to the government as well as the economy, we hope to achieve 6 per cent economic growth in the current fiscal year,” he said. The minister said if the government was allowed to work smoothly, the growth rate might have reached 6.15 per cent or even 6.3 per cent.

He said the World Bank report had included Pakistan among the top five countries where private investment structure was very attractive. Ahsan Iqbal, who is also the Minister for Planning and Development, said Pakistan’s image as a rising economy had not been created in the world automatically, but it was the PML-N government which worked hard to put the country’s economy on the right path.

He said when he took over as the interior minister, it was difficult to get license for a bullet-proof vehicle, but now the process to get this license had been eased. However, he said the license holder will have to pay Rs500,000 tax.

Regarding the finality of prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), he said, there is no need to create an issue on that matter as all the stakeholders, including parliament, the opposition and the government were on the same page and they all believed in the finality of the prophethood (Peace Be Upon Him). He questioned as to why some groups wanted to demonstrate on that issue and against whom.

He said peaceful demonstration was the right of every person in democracy but if the demonstrators were bent upon creating hue and cry just to embarrass the government, then it would take necessary steps to safeguard important public buildings and the Diplomatic Enclave in the federal capital. The minister urged all such groups to stage a demonstration at the Parade Ground instead of entering the Red Zone. “Our Prophet (PBUH) taught us peace and harmony. We need to remain peaceful and refrain from making violent demonstrations,” he added.

To a question about a letter written by the Chinese government to the Interior Ministry for boosting the security of Chinese people in Pakistan, the minister said after the statements of Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav, it had become quite clear that the neighbouring country harboured nefarious designs against Pakistan. He said though the backbone of terrorists had been broken by the security forces, however, complete elimination of terrorism was yet to be made.

“Therefore, care should be exercised by media persons while publishing such sensitive information. If the letter was leaked, then the newsmen should have got it confirmed from the government authorities before publishing it,” he added.

The government, he added, was devising a framework under which the social media would be kept under check. “The government will sit together with the information technology experts, bloggers and other stakeholders to devise a policy,” he said, adding, “A free hand given to the social media users could create anarchy in the country, as most of the information spread through it was based on speculations.”

He said the politics of some people depended on mere speculation and they were the ones who wanted to derail democracy. “Now no onecould derail the democratic system as it has been put on the right path, he added. “The government will complete its tenure for the second time in the country’s history, which will give a strong message to the world that Pakistan’s is a stable democracy.”

He said PTI chief Imran Khan should deliver lectures on cricket as it was his specialty, and spare economy. Imran Khan’s party, he charged, had become a safe haven for corrupt people.  

INP adds: Addressing a seminar, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said 99 percent of terrorist sanctuaries have been destroyed in the country.

“Our society is still facing the repercussions of the Afghan war. Osama bin Laden was introduced by our allies at that time whereas the Kalashnikov culture and drugs came to us as a result of the Afghan war,” he added.

The interior minister’s statements came ahead of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Islamabad as part of his tour to South Asia and the Gulf region.