January 09, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 29, 1428

LAHORE, Jan 8: Some of the politicians whom the government had recently told to make their own security arrangements in the wake of poor law and order have shown their inability to afford the security cost.

The Punjab home department had on Jan 3 written to various politicians warning them to take certain security measures in the wake of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

A source in the department said the step was taken after a number of politicians approached them for security cover. The government, he said, could not entertain their requests for want of funds.

Syeda Abida Husain, former ambassador and PPP candidate for NA-88, Jhang, is one of the recipients of the “warning letter” which told her that she could also be a target of “sectarian terrorism” that needed to be taken into account while making the security arrangements.

The source claimed that the Begum had also written to the department to seek the security cover, complaining that her rival and PML-Q nominee in the constituency Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat was enjoying the same cover though he was no more a federal minister.

In a reply to the home department’s letter, she questioned the warning where she was singled out for sectarian threat.

“Why I am being singled out for sectarian threat? I am one of millions of Pakistani Shias. I believe that no religious organization has any complaint against me.”

She rather hit back at the authorities by alleging that they themselves were to be blamed for the declining law and order.

“I, as do millions of Pakistanis, believe that the government itself, inclusive of its intelligence apparatus as well as its field formations, is responsible for the horrific deterioration in the security environment of the country,” says her reply.

Reminding the officials of her rights as a citizen, she said the government should ensure her safety instead of passing the onus (of its responsibility) onto her.

Begum Abida also showed her inability to bear the cost of making personal security arrangements. “I cannot afford the import of a bullet-proof vehicle (as suggested by the government) nor can I afford security from an expensive private security agency.”

The home department had, in its letter PA/AS(H)/09/2007 dated Jan 3, 2008, suggested that she should either hire the services of private security guards working for licensed security companies or apply to the department for the provision of police guards against payment.

The department has also offered to train personal security guards at police training centres.

It was also ready to forward to the interior ministry her application, if she filed, seeking import of a bullet-proof vehicle.

The federal government had allowed duty-free import of the vehicles three months ago and so far 17 such vehicles have been imported.

The source says that PML-N patron Nawaz Sharif and president Shahbaz Sharif, through their security manager Sikandar Pasha, had sought training of their guards at Elite Force training institute as they complained that the police guards provided to them were not so skilled.

No home department high-up was available for comments on Abida’s reply.