KARACHI: Govt accedes to Benazir’s security demand
By Our Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 3: The Sindh government has acceded to the demand of the Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto for using vehicles with tinted glass and keeping a certain number of armed guards with licensed weapons.
This permission was contained in a letter sent to Ms Bhutto’s lawyer Senator Farook H. Naek by Additional Home Secretary (LE) Navid Ahmad.
According to the letter, the federal government has allowed the use of four vehicles with tinted glasses by Ms Bhutto, subject to submission of registration number and other details about the vehicles.
The PPP chairperson has also been allowed to retain 24 guards to carry licensed weapons provided their names, NIC numbers, arms and licence numbers were conveyed to the home department.
Earlier, the home department had declined to accede to Ms Bhutto’s request on the plea that the federal government had not given permission for the same. Ms Bhutto had said that disallowing her to use tinted glasses and have armed guards was tantamount to exposing her to possible attacks.
In the latest communication addressed to Mr Naek, who had travelled with Ms Bhutto to Dubai, the government official recalled what he described as ‘adequate’ security provided at Bilawal House and the arrangements made for security during her travel to the city. He also pointed out that ‘senior and competent’ officials had been posted at Clifton and Larkana.
When asked to comment on the latest permission, Senator Farook Naek said the government action was confirmation of the collapse of law and order situation in the province and there was a threat to the life of Benazir Bhutto. In this scenario, he said, it was necessary that investigation of the twin blasts should be carried out by independent investigators. Experts from the USA’s FBI and the UK’s Scotland Yard should be inducted because they had the required technical and forensic expertise, he added.
Another open threat
Meanwhile, the Pakistan People’s Party denounced the latest threat issued to Benazir Bhutto’s life by the wanted militant Faqir Mohammad in Swat.
Talking to Dawn on Saturday, PPP Central Information Secretary Sherry Rehman denounced the latest threat to Ms Bhutto by militant Faqir Mohammed who said her life could be in danger if she did not change her anti-terrorism policy.
She said, “This is the second open threat to Benazir Bhutto and in the wake of October 18 terrorist attacks the regime needs to give protection to the leader of the country’s largest political party, as it should to all political leaders and citizens.”
“As the country is under intensive threat from extremist forces, with three to four lives on average being lost to terrorism every day, political, civil and military forces are feeling the heat of the state’s inability to effectively deal with the terrorist threat, and provide safety and security to citizens,” Ms Rehman observed.
She said, “The regime would ignore the latest threat at its own peril. We have all seen what happened when the security of the PPP convoy was compromised and hundreds of people were killed and maimed. She is an exceptionally brave woman who has continued to face danger with courage, but like every citizen of Pakistan, she has a right to be protected, while the regime needs to intensify its efforts to nab the twin blasts culprits. Instead of refusing a Pakistan-led independent inquiry with the help of Scotland Yard or FBI into the blast incidents, the regime should take all threats seriously and show some action on the ground,” she added.
