An unacceptable 'incident'

Acting in a high-handed manner against Irfan Siddiqui, an ex-adviser to the ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Islamabad police have ended up embarrassing themselves as well as the PTI government. Siddiqui, who is also a newspaper columnist, was arrested on Friday night from outside his house allegedly for not informing the local police station while renting out his house. The next day he was produced, like a hardened criminal, in handcuffs before an area magistrate, who rejected his bail request and sent him to Adiala Jail on a 14-day judicial remand. The action being vastly disproportionate and crude set off a storm of condemnations. Which is, apparently, why on Sunday the same magistrate granted him bail even before the arrival of his lawyers. All those involved in this unsavoury episode have come out looking bad.
First of all, there was no need whatsoever to handcuff him unless it was meant to humiliate a PML-N loyalist. The 78-year-old writer was not expected to make an attempt to escape. Unfortunately, the police have not learnt any lessons from the tragic example of Brig Asad Munir (retd) who last year committed suicide, leaving behind a note for the Supreme Court to take action against his National Accountability Bureau tormentors, saying that he took the ultimate step to avoid being paraded handcuffed before TV cameras. Secondly, as Siddiqui explained upon his release at a news conference, the house in question does not belong to him; it is owned by his son, who had leased it out only a few days back hence there was no urgency to arrest anyone for failure to report to the police. If this is true - he cannot take the risk of making a false statement under the present circumstances - it shows the police had not done their homework and acted overzealously to please the government. As the old saying goes, 'a wise enemy is better than a foolish friend'. Predictably, while talking at Siddiqui's presser, the PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb used the opportunity to lash out at the government, claiming that Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmad Shah had got Siddiqui arrested on the Prime Minister Imran Khan's orders.
However, according to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan, Khan has expressed displeasure over the incident, and sought a detailed report on it. Although he is not directly involved, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser also called the Interior Minister to express his concern over the arrest and handcuffing of Siddiqui for what he rightly described as a mere alleged violation of the tenancy law, calling for a thorough probe. It is in the government's own interest to conduct a proper inquiry and hold those responsible to account.