INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Authors: Super UserAfter the shooting Ahsan Iqbal was rushed to a local hospital and then airlifted to Lahore (File)
Pakistan's interior minister was recovering in hospital Monday
after being shot in a suspected assassination attempt possibly linked to blasphemy, with the attack seen as an ominous sign for security
ahead of nationwide elections.Ahsan Iqbal, 59, was shot in the right arm as he prepared to leave a public meeting in his constituency in
Punjab province late Sunday.A man identified by police only as "Abid" and said to be in his early 20s was wrestled to the ground by officers
and bystanders as he was preparing to fire a second shot
He has been taken into custody.Police are still investigating the attack, but local deputy commissioner Ali Anan Qamar told AFP that the
shooter said he was inspired by a controversy last year in which a small amendment to the oath that election candidates must swear had to be
hastily reversed after it was linked to blasphemy.The row sparked a three-week sit-in last November by a previously little-known Islamist
group, which paralysed the capital.That demonstration ended when the government capitulated to the protesters' demands -- including the
ousting of the federal law minister -- in a deal brokered by the military.At the time many Pakistanis and analysts warned that a dangerous
precedent had been set in which fringe groups could bend the state to their will by citing blasphemy, a highly inflammatory charge in the
conservative Muslim country.Iqbal, a champion of Pakistan's much-persecuted religious minorities, pushed for a negotiated settlement to the
He has previously condemned hate speech against groups such as the Ahmadis, an Islamic minority sect who were at the centre of the
dispute.After the shooting he was rushed first to a local hospital and then airlifted to Lahore, where video footage released by his ruling
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party (PML-N) showed him being lowered from a helicopter on a stretcher, his eyes open as he responded to
questions.Doctors performed surgery on him until the early hours, Shafqat Waseem Chaudhry, one of the five-member medical team responsible
for him, told AFP."He is stable now
But he will remain in the (intensive care unit) for two days," he said.The attack was swiftly condemned by the international community as
Pakistanis voiced fears it represented an attempt to weaken democracy ahead of the federal elections, widely expected to be held late this
summer. 'Bad omen' Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, tweeted that he "strongly
condemned" the attack, calling it a "bad omen for upcoming general elections that is supposed to be free, fair and transparent".Security
analyst Amir Rana told AFP the shooting of the minister nominally in charge of security in a country that has long grappled with militancy
was a "serious" development."Pakistan claims that the country has returned to normalcy but such attacks continues to happen and these are
downplayed," he said.The vote will only be Pakistan's second-ever democratic transition, and with the PML-N in disarray since Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court over graft allegations last summer, there has been growing speculation it could be delayed.The
court banned Sharif from politics for life, while foreign minister Khawaja Asif was also ousted by the Islamabad High Court late last month
for violating election laws.Sharif and his supporters have repeatedly denied the allegations, suggesting they are victims of a conspiracy
driven by Pakistan's powerful military to reduce the sway of their party.Despite the setbacks, the party has won a string of recent
by-elections, proving it will likely remain a force in the vote.Blasphemy can be punishable by death under controversial Pakistani
legislation, with even unproven allegations sparking mob lynchings and murders.If the link to blasphemy is confirmed, and had the
assassination succeeded, it would not have been the first political killing over the issue.In 2011 then-Punjab governor Salman Taseer, a
liberal who had called for reformation of the laws, was gunned down by his own bodyguard in broad daylight in Islamabad.Hardliners have
built a shrine to his murderer, Mumtaz Qadri, on the outskirts of the capital.Iqbal, touted as a potential prime minister when Sharif was
ousted last July, is a US-educated lawmaker from a political family long associated with the PML-N.Considered the brains behind the party's
development agenda, he previously headed up the planning ministry.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
