ISLAMABAD: Government attempts to appease religious extremists had led to the attack on a Pakistan federal interior minister on Sunday, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has claimed.

Pakistani Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was wounded in an apparent assassination attempt by a gunman with links to the extremist Tehrik Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) party.

Iqbal, 59, a senior member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and a staunch ally of Sharif, was shot as he was leaving a constituency meeting in Punjab province.

“This is what happens when 1,000 rupees are distributed among such people,” said Sharif, referring to a deal was brokered by the Pakistan army between the government and TLYR protesters last November.

Punjab Rangers Director General Azhar Naveed Hayat Khan had given envelopes containing the money to TLYR supporters to help bring an end to violent protests. 

Sharif, speaking outside the trial court on his 62nd appearance battling corruption charges, said the attack on Iqbal was “not an ordinary issue” and that he is “extremely concerned.”

TLYR protesters blocked a major traffic artery between Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Nov. 2, 2017, wielding sticks and threatening commuters.

The PML-N government eventually struck a deal with the TLYR after a three-week standoff and clashes between the law enforcement agencies and protesters. 

Defending PML-N’s position, Syeda Almas Gardezi, central secretary-general of the party’s women’s wing, said: “The government had no choice since its power to deal with the matter were truncated.

“There are forces at play attempting to dismantle Sharif’s party and crush his legacy. Had this incident occurred with any other party, the Supreme Court would have taken immediate notice, but unfortunately it seems that is a privilege that is not extended to us.”

Prominent political analyst Zahid Hussain said Sharif was accusing others of an action that his government endorsed at the time.

Hussain told Arab News that Sharif’s son-in-law, retired Capt. Mohammed Safdar, had made a virulent speech in Parliament against a minority sect in October that also played a pivotal role of inciting religious extremism.

Referring to the Ahmadis, often defined as heretics, Safdar said: “These people (are) a threat to this country, its constitution and ideology.”

Safdar objected to the renaming of the Quaid-e-Azam University physics department after Pakistani Nobel laureate Dr. Abdus Salam, an Ahmadi.