LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif suffered mortification of sorts on March 11 when a seminary student hurled shoe at him at a gathering in Lahore and the culprit was soon arrested. The shoe-attacker was shortly chased by hundreds of pro-Nawaz men with an aim to dole out vigilante justice, but in vain. The police moved the attacker to an undisclosed location to prevent any further tension.
But where’s the culprit, Talha Munawar, now after about 25 days?
It emerged on Friday that a judicial magistrate on Friday granted post-arrest bail to three men involved in hurling shoe on ousted prime minister at a ceremony in Jamia Naeemia, Garhi Shahu.
The magistrate allowed bail to prime suspect Munawar and his two accomplices Abdul Ghafoor and Muhammad Sajid subject to furnishing surety bonds of worth Rs100,000 each.
Munawar had hurled his shoe on the ousted premier when he came to the rostrum to address the gathering. The co-suspects also tried to throw shoes but security personnel overpowered them. All the three suspects were former students of the Jamia Naeemia, a religious seminary.
He asked the magistrate to release the suspects on bail as they were ready to submit surety bonds.
Qila Gujjar Singh police had registered a case against the suspects under Section 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person), Section 504 (criminal intimidation) of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order. Later the police also inserted Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 in the FIR.
However, an anti-terrorism court allowing a petition of the suspects ordered the police to delete Section 7 of ATA from the FIR and referred the case to court of ordinary jurisdiction. The Punjab prosecution department challenged this order and its appeal is fixed for hearing before a division bench of the high court for Monday.
What exactly happened that day?
As the supreme leader of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) took over the dais to deliver a speech, the shoe-thrower approached the stage and hurled the shoe at Mr. Sharif, which hit him on his chest.
Soon after the incident, the seminary administration detained the attacker before handing him over to the police. The attacker was then beaten up by a group of students and seminary staff after the incident and shifted to hospital for medical assistance. Sharif, however, delivered a brief speech after the incident.
Counsel for the suspects later told the court that their clients did not belong to any political party nor they had any political motive. He said their act was in reaction to an amendment to Khatam-i-Nabuwat (finality of Prophethood) law by the parliament having majority of Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N.
