Lawmakers of KP prevent oath taking of Hindu legislator accused of murdering Sikh lawmaker

Opposition and Treasury members of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly today prevented a Hindu lawmaker from taking oath accusing him of murdering a Sikh legislator in 2016.
Member of the Provincial Assembly-elect Baldev Kumar, who is in jail in the murder case of Sikh lawmaker Sardar Soran Singh, was allowed to be brought from prison for the oath taking ceremony in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on the direction of the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
But when Kumar entered the provincial assembly hall, the opposition members protested against the Speaker's decision to allow him to take the oath of Member of the Provincial Assembly.

The treasury members also joined the Opposition's protest and warned the speaker that they would walk out of the session, if Kumar was allowed to take oath.
Arbab Jehandad Khan, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Member of the Provincial Assembly, threw his shoe at Kumar which landed close to him while some other members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf threw copies of the assembly agenda towards Kumar.
The police then shifted Kumar to Peshawar jail without taking the oath, while the Speaker adjourned the session till Friday amid chaos and walk out by the Opposition and treasury members.

The opposition members alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government brought a "killer" in the House for the Senate vote.

However, Minister for Information K P Shah Farman said that he was produced in the Assembly on the orders of the Peshawar High Court.
Leader of opposition Maulana Lutfur Rehman said that the government should have challenged the decision of the Peshawar High Court before bringing Kumar in the House for oath.
Singh, a lawmaker from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was shot dead in April 2016 in Buner district of the province. Singh was elected to the provincial assembly on a minority seat.
His son Ajay on Sunday appealed the provincial government not to bring the "killer" of his father in the provincial assembly for obtaining his vote for Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf Senate candidate in the upcoming Senate elections due for March 3.

Kumar, the second in the list of Tehreek-e-Insaf party's candidates for a reserved seat for minorities, has been facing a trial in the case.