LAHORE: Punjab’s ex-governor Sardar Latif Khosa on Saturday said those who did not like his speeches were behind the attack on his house.

Speaking at a press conference in the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Mr Khosa said his speech at a recent lawyers’ convention was highly praised by his colleagues, but some people may not have liked it.

The senior lawyer, also a senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), said he did not nominate any suspect in the firing incident’s FIR, as it was the police’s responsibility to trace and arrest the perpetrators.

However, he added the powers that be chose the wrong person if they wanted to teach him a ‘lesson’.

Mr Khosa further said the inspector general of police (IGP) should have visited him, as the sanctity of his house was not less than that of the Lahore corps commander in any manner.

Asked whether former president Asif Ali Zardari contacted him after the firing incident, the former governor said the PPP leader was probably out of the country for medical treatment.

However, he added, the political secretary of Mr Zardari and other party leaders called him.

Praising the political ‘intellect’ of Mr Zardari, Mr Khosa said the PPP had made the PML-N a symbol of hate in the eye of the public. “Hold the elections today and see the fate of the PML-N,” he added.

About his “differences” with the party, the former governor said he spoke for the supremacy of the Constitution and the people of the country.

Mr Khosa said he had openly advised PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to not become a minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the Sharif brothers were a product of Gen Zia.

He said the Sharifs ruined the Constitution the same way Gen Zia had done by not holding the general election in 90 days.

“I still request my party to withdraw from the coalition government, otherwise, it would also face the consequences in the elections,” he added.

About the trials of the May 9 rioting suspects, he said the civilians should not be prosecuted by the military courts. A petition had also been filed in the Supreme Court against the trials of the citizens under the Army Act 1952, he added.

The former governor said the lawyers would launch a movement against the ‘subversion’ of the Constitution by the government.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2023