Senators stage walkout on Karachi, Balochistan issues

ISLAMABAD: Combined opposition in the Senate joined PPP’s two allies - MQM and ANP legislators - in storming out of the House on Wednesday against the worsening law and order in Balochistan and Karachi, as Interior Minister Rehman Malik again could not attend the proceedings, forcing early adjournment of the proceedings.
ANP’s Muhammad Zahid Khan was the first to rise on a point of order to contend that they would stage walkout despite a commitment in the House by Law Minister Farooq H Naek on Tuesday that Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf would come to take the senators into confidence on Karachi issue but he did not come to the Senate.

“The situation is worsening day by day, but neither the government in Islamabad nor in Sindh has any strategy to cope with the issue. We have been making speeches on the subject for the last three months, but these have been useless,” the Senator said before leading his party lawmakers’ exit from the House.

Then rose Nationalist Party Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo to say that the House was given an assurance that the prime minister would deliver a speech on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, but he was not present and then they walked out along with Senators of PML-N and JUI-F.

MQM’s Nasreen Jalil also said if prime minister could not spare time, at least the interior minister should have come to the House and then her party senators walked out of the Senate.

Earlier, Chairman Standing Committee on Defence Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed laid a committee report on Defence Update-I November 2012. He talked about the committee’s proactive role and said that instead of delivering speeches and waiting for US President Obama what would be his next moves on Afghanistan, the government of Pakistan should focus now on safeguarding the national interests vis-à-vis Afghanistan in the emerging scenario.

The Senator called for shunning hypocrisy on drone attacks and making it clear to the US that there must be no more such strikes inside the country and the government must make sure that Pakistan was made part of the dialogue process with Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mushahid also pointed out that the point should also be kept in mind that, on one hand, the US wanted peace and dialogue while on the other, it talked about aggression against Iran and containment of China.

About his committee’s policy, he said that they wanted to play the role of a bridge between the ‘khaki’ and the mufti’ and wanted a dialogue between the armed forces and the media and the process would be started very soon. He asserted that the steps needed to be taken as mere rhetoric of believing in supremacy of the Parliament would not do.

Senate Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari lauded the performance of the committee, which is the only House panel to have created its own website.Senator Mushahidullah Khan contended that it should also be conveyed to the US to stop talking separately to the government and the military and said it was like making a state within the state. He added in future, the Americans should only talk to the government of the day.

Nuzhat Sadiq’s calling attention notice regarding the strike by CNG stations was kept pending for next rota day, as no minister concerned was present in the House to respond to her contention.

The chairman regretted that despite repeated directions, the House was not being given due importance and concerned ministry officials were also not present in the galleries. The House will now resume at 4pm Thursday.

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