Karachi, July 15: Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports on Tuesday slammed the government for not suspending the police officers found guilty of negligence in discharging their duties during the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on March 3.
The committee, headed by MNA Jamshed Khan Dasti, warned that if the responsible officers were not suspended, they would refer the matter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for further action.
Dasti said it was disappointing to see that despite the attack bringing a bad name to the country, none of the government or security officials called for the hearing today were present before the committee.
“We have now issued notices to Interior Affairs Minister, Rehman Malik, Inspector General of Police Punjab and Lahore City police chief to appear at the next hearing on July 28 and explain why no action has been taken against these officers,” he said.
A one-man judicial probe found some senior officials guilty of negligence during the attack that killed seven people, including policemen and left six Sri Lankan players and an assistant coach injured.
The attack also led to the International Cricket Council moving the 2011 World Cup matches from Pakistan.
Dasti said the government needed to suspend the negligent officers to set an example as the incident had tarnished Pakistan’s image before the sporting world.
–PTI