April 09, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 8: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari have condemned the manhandling of former parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi and termed it a conspiracy against the coalition government.

The prime minister said in a statement: “This sort of misconduct is not acceptable in any civilised society.”

He ordered the provincial government to hold an inquiry into the incident and apprehend the culprits disturbing peace and harmony. He also asked the officials concerned to ensure security and welfare of Dr Afgan and his family.

Mr Zardari said in a statement issued from Dubai that the incident was shocking beyond measure and should be condemned in the strongest terms. He said it was intriguing that the incident occurred when the new coalition government was about to take over the administration in the province.

“It needs to be investigated why law-enforcing agencies watched the gory incident silently and did not take timely action to rescue Dr Afgan from captors and from being roughed up.”

Mr Zardari said that a day before in Karachi, former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Rahim had been manhandled just when the new government was about to take over the administration in the province. He said the PPP believed in the rule of law and was deeply concerned that some elements in Karachi and Lahore had tried to take law into their own hands.

“The two incidents appear to have been engineered by elements that want to bring a bad name to the new democratic government.”

Mr Zardari expressed the hope that the government would hold a thorough probe into the incident and expose the hidden hands behind the attacks and punish them in accordance with the law.

Federal Law Minister Farooq Naek and Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman also condemned the incident. Mr Naek said it was a big blot on the profession of lawyers.

Without naming any person, Mr Naek said that leaders of the legal fraternity who had been addressing various bars and instigating lawyers even after the Murree Declaration were responsible for the incident.

He said that despite requests from him and his party, there had been talk of long march and of the countdown to the government. “I will request my brother advocates to act like the custodian of laws, to have patience, attend courts, look after the problems of litigants, especially the prisoners who have been in jails for many years, and let parliament to resolve the issue of restoration of deposed judges,” he added.

Ms Sherry Rehman said the issue would be investigated to determine the elements responsible for the incident.

Leader of the House in Senate Raza Rabbani termed the incident a conspiracy to malign the coalition government and sabotage the ongoing lawyer’s movement.