Pakistan: Govt plans to deploy troops at parliament

The Pakistan government has decided to deploy paramilitary rangers and Frontier Constabulary (FC) at the Parliament House, MNA Hostels and Federal Lodges on the day the National Assembly votes on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, country’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the Parliament House, lodges and old MNA hostels will be handed over to Rangers and the FC on the election day to avoid any untoward incident.

The minister’s remarks come a day after a police raid to the Parliament Lodges to expel members of the Ansarul Islam — the volunteer force of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) — who made it to the high-security zone to allegedly provide security to opposition lawmakers. At least four legislators, along with two dozen Ansarul Islam volunteers, were arrested during the operation, all of whom were released on Friday.

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Regretting the previous day incident, the minister said that no one was booked under anti-terrorism laws and no lawmaker was nominated in any police report.

Pointing out that Ansarul Islam was declared a banned outfit in 2019, Rashid said police carried out a search operation with the permission of the National Assembly Speaker. The minister alleged that JUI-F leader Kamran Murtaza used “filthy language” against police officials but the cops remained polite.

• Pakistan