• Parliamentarians unanimously condemned the attack on Imran Khan
• Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) should be constituted
• The lawmakers urged the PTI leaders to refrain from making controversial statements

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentarians unanimously condemned the gun attack on Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan during his long march and called for a transparent probe to unveil the facts behind the incident.

While addressing the National Assembly session, the lawmakers termed the untoward incident as a conspiracy against the security forces and the country to sabotage peace and stability in the country.

Speaking on the floor of the House on Friday, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif called for a transparent inquiry into the incident to expose the real culprits behind this crime.

He said using this incident for political gains and hurling baseless accusations against the Prime Minister, Interior Minister, and others should be avoided.

He suggested that a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) should be constituted in order to ensure transparent and credible probe to apprehend culprits involved in this incident

The minister said the entire duty staff of the police station including the Station House Officer (SHO) was suspended for recording the statement of the accused and the chief minister transferred the case to the Police Station Kunja which falls in his constituency.

He said the issue is being politicized for political gain which is a mockery of the system. He said so far four people have lost their lives in the long march either crushed or falling from the container, adding that Imran Khan had already predicted that his march would be bloody.

He said Imran Khan used to call Chief Minister Punjab Pervez Elahi, the biggest criminal of Punjab and today this incident happened under the same biggest criminal.

He said the government is interested to expose the real motive or a culprit behind this incident but the PTI is not interested in fair investigations and politicizing this incident.

The entire world is keeping an eye on the fast changing situation of an atomic country, therefore we all have act and speak responsibly, said the minister.

Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Shazia Marri condemned the incident and said that the protest was the right of every political party in democratic countries.

She stressed that peaceful protests should not be turned into violence and bloodshed as it was the responsibility of the political leaders to make sensible decisions in such situations.

She urged the PTI leadership to be careful while passing statements about the incident and abstain from blaming national institutions. She demanded a full-fledged investigation of the incident without any external influence to ensure transparency.

She requested PTI Chairman Imran Khan to observe patience over the incident and avoid making any irresponsible statements till the investigation was completed.

“When you [Imran Khan] are in the government you behave like a proud man but when you are not the prime minister then you desecrate every institution not extending favours to you.”

She said that PPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had shown patience over the martyrdom of Mohtarma Benzair Bhutto for the sake of the country. She said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has also strongly condemned the firing incident.

On the occasion, MNA Syed Ali Musa Gillani requested the members to also pray for the PTI worker who died in the incident and said that workers were the real asset of political parties.

MNA Mohammad Aslam Bhootani also condemned the incident and requested the federal government to help the provincial government in a transparent investigation.

MNA Noor Alam Khan said that PTI leadership was criticizing the security forces while linking the firing incident to them for their political gains.

He said that Pakistan Army personnel were performing their duties on the borders to protect their homeland. “PTI Leadership is dragging the Pakistan Army into the incident because they refused to interfere in the political matters,” he added.

He urged to bring a resolution to support security forces in this difficult time. He lauded the patience showed by Pakistan Army in this situation in the country’s interest.

He also requested the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter and ban political leaders and parties issuing controversial statements against national institutions.

MNA Salahuddin Ayubi said violence cannot be justified for political objectives. He said Imran Khan wanted to destroy all institutions if they would not help him to regain power.

“It is the history of PTI that whenever they come to Islamabad, their protests become violent and they attack the national institutions. Now again they are coming with arms to destabilize the country,” he said.