PESHAWAR: Lawmakers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly paid tributes to their slain colleague, the provincial law minister Sardar Israrullah Khan Gandapur, by adorning his seat with floral wreaths and lighting candles at a condolence session here on Wednesday.
The session, convened on the requisition of the combined opposition parties, began with collective prayers for the departed soul of 38-year-old Israrullah Gandapur, who was killed in a suicide attack on the first day of Eidul Azha while receiving guests at his Hujra at Kulachi in Dera Ismail Khan district.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl MPA Mufti Syed Janan recited verses from the Holy Quran and offered Fateha for the deceased. Acting Speaker Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi could not control his emotions and with choked voice read out a written statement in honour of Israrullah Gandapur, who was also the minister for parliamentary affairs. Mufti Syed Janan, elected for the second time in May 2013 general election from Hangu district, and PPP’s Nighat Yasmin Orakzai burst into tears when it was mentioned that the whole House had been deprived of a decent man, mature parliamentarian and well-informed minister.
The seat, where the late ANP leader and minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour used to sit in the previous assembly, has once again fallen vacant with the demise of Israrullah Gandapur, who was elected as an independent and had later joined the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). On the behalf of the assembly secretariat and some parliamentarians, garlands were placed on the vacant seat of Israrullah Gandapur, who had been elected to provincial assembly for three consecutive times.
Ironically, leader of the House Pervez Khattak, the PTI-affiliated chief minister, and leader of opposition Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, did not attend the condolence session for unspecified reasons.
The session lasted for about 30 minutes and except for the assembly’s acting speaker, not a single parliamentarian took the floor to condemn the assassination of Israrullah Gandapur at the hands of terrorists.
The KP has lost its third member within five months. All died in terrorism related incidents. In the previous provincial assembly dominated by the ANP, 12 members had died, including three killed in terrorist acts. The session was later adjourned till 4pm Thursday.
