Former Sindh CM Rahim lashed by shoes

Karachi, Apr.8 : Former Sindh Chief Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Quami (PML-Q) leader Arbab Ghulam Rahim was given a shoe lashing by a Pakistan People's Party (PPP) supporter on Monday, as he was leaving the provincial assembly here through a side entrance.

Arbab has been targetted by PPP workers since the new assembly was convened last Saturday, as he is seen as being responsible for not providing adequate security to former premier Benazir Bhutto when she had arrived in Pakistan on October 18, 2007 and narrowly escaped assassination.

According to The Nation, Arbab was escorted nto the assembly by security personnel on Monday through a side entrance.

As he sat in the assembly before taking oath, PPP workers in the visitors' galleries shouted slogans against him while using abusive language and flung shoes, which hit Arbab on the shoulder.

He could not take oath on Saturday because he was attacked and was not allowed to enter the house. He took oath on Monday. The attacker has been identified as Agha Javed from Shikarpur. The same man had got his right hand cut on Saturday when he tried along with a number of workers to break one of the doors of Speaker's gallery. The attacker was removed from the gallery but after some time he returned to the gallery and remained there for more than an hour.

The incident of attacking former chief minister Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim both inside and outside the house by workers of the PPP led to walkout of MQM from the Assembly.

Amidst ear splitting noises and agitation in the visitors' gallery, the roll book was brought to the desk of former chief minister, who signed it and left immediately.

When Arbab Rahim was leaving, another group of the PPP workers including some ladies mobbed him in the corridor and tried to hit him with the shoes and ladies sandals.

Though Arbab was with heavy security cordon, one of the workers hit Arbab on the head with a shoe, which was caught by the TV cameras and shown all over the world.

Rahim later told a private television channel that the incident was pre-planned by the PPP.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gillani have expressed deep concern over the manhandling of former Sindh chief minister.

According to a press release issued from Governor's House, both the President and Prime Minister phoned the Governor of Sindh, Dr. Ishratul Ibad, and expressed concern over Sindh Assembly incident. They termed the occurrence as being against all the democratic values and ordered an immediate inquiry into it.

ANI