ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday termed the assassination attempt on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal deplorable and said it was an ultimatum not only for the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) but also for other political parties.

Talking to reporters during his appearance before the accountability court in connection with the Avenfield properties reference, thePML-N supreme leader said it was not an ordinary matter because the attempt had been made on the life of an interior minister.

Unfortunately, this mindset had existed in the country for over seven decades and it was alsoencouraged by the `quarters concerned`, he said, adding that people wanted to know why Rs1,000 each had been distributed among the protesters of the 2017Faizabad sit-in.

Soon after the end of the sit-in, a video footage had gone viral in which Punjab Rangers Director General Maj Gen Azhar Naveed Hayat Khan could be seen distributing money among the protesters.

Later Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor clarified that since the poor protesters had no money to go back to their hometown, the Rangers DG disbursed some money on humanitarian grounds.

Initially, the government had requisitioned the army to launch an operation against the protesters. A serving army officer facilitated an agreement between the government and the protesters that led to resignation of then law minister Zahid Hamid. The government had also assured the protesters of not pursuing cases against the sit-in leadership.

During one of the hearings of petitions filed by some local residents in the Islamabad High Court against the sit-in, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui expressed annoyance over the agreement and asked the government to explain as to why the army had not acted in aid to the civiladministration and how the army chief`s name was used in the agreement. The judge also asked how the federal government could withdraw FIRs against the violent protesters unilaterally.

Ex-PM Sharif said the questions raised by Justice Siddiqui of the IHC as well as Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court about the Faizabad sit-in were still awaiting reply from the quarters concerned.

`We are not serfs; people of Pakistan are the real owners ofthe country. Enough is enough, he added.

Appeal to CJP Mr Sharif said Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar should take notice of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman`s allegations that the army had helped the PML-N win the 2013 general elections. `The CJP has taken notice of many things. He should also take notice of [Imran] Khan`s claim.

About the recent elevation ofSindh High Court judge Justice Munib Akhtar to the Supreme Court and lawyers` bodies protest over the appointment, he said the bar councils and associations reflected the will of public at large and their concerns should not be ignored.

Mr Sharif said there was a dire need of amending the procedure for appointment of judges in the superior courts as well as rules of the Supreme Judicial Council a forum responsible for accountability of judges.He said he had spoken to Prime Minister Shahid Khagan Abbasi about suspending the National Accountability Ordinance before the general elections and during the caretaker set-up, but deferred the matter till a decision on the references against him because it could taken as a favour to him. He said the references would have been decided within eight weeks instead of eight months had the National Accountability Bureau any proof against him.