ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has revealed that late additional district and sessions judge Rafaqat Ahmed Khan Awan was inadvertently killed by his own guard and not by the terrorists in a gun and bomb attack that killed 11 others in Islamabad on Monday.
In Islamabad district courts, 12 people were killed and 28 sustained injuries according to the latest figures, he told the lawmakers in National Assembly, adding the culprits of the incident would be brought to the book as important progress in the case had already been made.
Lamenting portrayal of the country as unsafe by some members of the Parliament during the discussion, the minister said other countries give message of unity after such incidents but in Pakistan, the reaction was totally different.
He urged members to avoid statements that demoralise the security forces, adding patriotism demanded that the shortcomings of the forces should not be made public.
Attacks on soft targets occur in the world, he said adding at the time of district court incident the deceased judge locked himself and staff in his retiring room but unfortunately the security guard deployed with him inadvertently shot the judge with three bullets in panic after the suicide blast.
He said speculations must be avoided on the incident of Islamabad district courts.
The guard had already confessed his crime and the post-mortem report showed that the judge had not been killed with Kalashnikov but with the guard's weapon.
Referring to F-8 tragedy in Islamabad, he said the judiciary and the lawyers’ community reacted in a responsible manner and sent a strong message that we are united against terrorism. He said similar message should have come out from the floor of Parliament but unfortunately some members resorted to undue criticism.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan acknowledged that there are threats but added that, “our weaknesses are not as strong as have been highlighted by the opposition.”
“Patriotism demands that we should identify our weaknesses but not convey them to terrorists,” he added.
The minister said there were some short comings in security of the Islamabad district courts and added that, “we have learned a lesson from the incident.”
