KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday excused for the misprovision of security to Maulana Adil Khan, the Karachi-based religious scholar who was gunned down on Saturday, saying its hands were tied by a 2018 judgement of the Supreme Court (SC).
Khan, the head of Jamia Farooqia, was killed in a suspected targetted attack apparently to fuel the sectarian gulf in the country. Following the tragic incident, many pointed toward the lack of police protection for the cleric.
Commenting on the incident, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani, while addressing a press conference, recalled Maulana Adil’s son had mentioned security once during a meeting with provincial ministers and that the matter was discussed once more after a meeting at the Chief Minister’s Office.
“When he was assassinated, I checked whether he had been provided with security, and if not, the reasons behind it,” Ghani said, adding that he found that just two policemen had been deputed at the seminary in Shah Faisal Colony.
Ghani then went on to say that an order issued by the former chief justice Saqib Nisar had become a “problem” for the provincial government in providing adequate security to Maulana Adil.
In 2018, the then chief justice Saqib Nisar had ordered the withdrawal of security from unauthorised persons across the country, following which provinces were asked by the apex court to devise a mechanism to provide security to those entitled.
In response, threat assessment committees were formed in all federating units tasked with assessing and providing security to those deemed entitled.
“The formation of the threat assessment committee [following the SC order] has created a lot of hurdles for us. The government and the chief minister no longer have the power to order security for a particular person,” Ghani said during his presser.
“But the government is blamed when such incidents occur,” he added, referring to the cleric’s assassination.
Ghani said that the powers to deploy security resources should rest with the government so that similar incidents can be prevented in the future. “If the committee was not there, then maybe we could have given Maulana Adil the security he required within an hour.”
Ghani also called for the inclusion of Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad in the investigation regarding Maulana Adil’s assassination because the latter had warned of terror attacks in the country just hours before the gun attack on the cleric.
At a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, Ahmad had warned opposition parties of the possibility of terrorism and coronavirus spread due to their joint protest rallies under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
“Hours after his press conference, a major terrorist incident occurred in the city,” Ghani said, adding that the railways minister should be questioned on how he knew terror incidents may occur during the opposition’s rallies.
