Lashing out at Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator Talha Mahmood Tuesday said his ministry had become the mouthpiece of US, UK and NATO forces and was taking dictation from them.
Mahmood of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)-estranged coalition partner of the Pakistan People’s Party-is the fourth parliamentarian who has alleged Malik of following foreign agenda after PPP senior leaders, Zulfiqar Mirza, Lashkari Riasani and Humayun Kurd.
He also criticised Federal Interior Secretary Khawaja Siddique Akbar for creating hurdles in the way of smooth functioning of the committee. The absence of the interior minister, secretary interior and any other official of the Ministry of Interior annoyed Mahmood, who sent the matter to the Senate Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privilege. Mahmood, quoting the official correspondence of Ministry of Interior with his office, said the interior minister and secretary interior were undermining the supremacy of the Parliament. The letter issued by the Ministry of Interior said, “Minister for Interior has desired that in future all correspondence relating to business of Standing Committee may be addressed to the secretary, Ministry of Interior and secretary interior shall represent ministry as well as all attached departments as head of administrative division in the meeting. He has further directed to intimate that the heads of attached departments may not be summoned to appear in person before the standing committee.” Mahmood further said that the behaviour of Malik towards the parliamentary committee showed that his ministry was not working for Pakistan but for some other country. He said he would write to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in this connection.
PAKISTANIS LANGUISING IN JAILS ABROAD: The committee expressed its displeasure over the fact that many Pakistanis were languishing in Indian jails even though they had completed their sentence and sought complete record from the Foreign Office. Haji Adeel Ahmed of Awami National Party (ANP) was of the view that it was complete negligence on part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Earlier, Foreign Office representatives, in their briefing about Pakistani prisoners foreign countries, informed the committee that 1,600 Pakistanis including 450 people on charges of drug trafficking and 350 on allegations of forgery were behind the bars in Saudi Arabia. The committee was told that 4,000 Pakistani prisoners from Riyadh and 8,836 from Jeddah were repatriated during the last year. The committee sought progress report from Foreign Office about a Pakistani student namely Fahad Khan who has been languishing in Saudi Arabian jail for more than two years even though no charges have been framed against him.
EMBASSIES: On the issue of foreign embassies situated in residential areas of the capital, CDA officials informed the committee that 54 embassies were located in residential areas of Islamabad from which 32 had been allotted land in Diplomatic Enclave while 16 of those had started the process to construct the buildings there. The committee also sought complete details from Foreign Office about all its officials residing in foreign countries in rented houses and the particulars of the amount of rent and about the land owned by the office in other countries.
Another PPP leader
lambastes Malik: After Zulfiqar Mirza and Nawabzada Lashkari Raeesani, another Pakistan People’s Party leader and MNA Mir Humayun Kurd harshly criticised Interior Minister Rehman Malik and accussed him of following in former president Pervaiz Musharraf’s footsteps and was carrying out the agenda of foreign anti-state elements to break Pakistan. Addressing a press conference at his residence on Tuesday, Kurd said the portfolio of interior ministry should be taken back from Malik and an independent judicial commission should probe the revelations made by former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza.
