LAHORE – The Punjab government has urged Interior Minister Rehman Malik to refrain from politicking on the serious issue of terrorism.
Spokesperson Senator Pervaiz Rashid Saturday said that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) leader Malik Ishaq has been arrested for a second time by the Punjab government as he was earlier arrested in 1997.
He said Rehman Malik is levelling allegations only for political gains. He asked Malik to check the record so he could know that Ishaq was sentenced a number of times by the lower courts but he was later released by higher courts in appeals during the Musharraf era. He said the federal interior minister neither wrote any letter to Punjab government for the arrest of Ishaq nor did he provide any material providing grounds for the detention of LeJ chief.
Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that eleven arm licences were issued to Malik Ishaq and his two sons Malik Usman and Malik Muhammad Haq Nawaz by PPP Sindh and BalochIstan governments.
Similarly, the prohibited licenses were also issued to Malik Ishaq by the federal government but the Punjab government repeatedly asked the federal government to stop issuing prohibited bore licenses.
Senator asked interior minister that instead of levelling allegations, he should tell why licenses were issued by the PPP government. Pervaiz Rashid said that due to the arrest by the previous Punjab government Malik Ishaq had to spend 14 years in jail. He said why Rehman Malik did not arrest Malik Ishaq when he was roaming freely for getting licenses from Sindh and Balochistan govts.
He said that free roaming of Malik Ishaq is the result PPP government policies and a conspiracy is being hatched to put the responsibility on Punjab government.