The opposition parties in the Senate on Thursday staged a token walkout from the House against media blackout on unrest in Balochistan, suspecting that it was being done under a well-defined policy. A day ago, senators from Balochistan raised concerns over the increasing number of missing persons in the province, while the state-owned and private media hardly carried the news. They said the Balochistan issue was being neglected in the national media under a policy to keep people ignorant of the exact situation in the province.
Senators including Leader of the Opposition Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Hasil Bazenjo, Ismail Buledi, Gul Muhammad Lot, Surraya Amiruddin, Wali Muhammad Badini and Gulshan Saeed were of the view that the national press and particularly the state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) should give proper coverage to the Balochistan issue particularly when it is raised in the parliament. Haidri regretted that the issues facing Balochistan were not being truly depicted in the media. He said kidnapping for ransom and robberies were on the rise in the province but the media had failed to portray them properly. He asked the government to restore the subsidy for tube-wells to avoid damage to the agriculture sector in Balochistan. Later, the opposition staged a token walkout from the House over the non-portrayal of Balochistan issues in the national media.
Responding to the concerns of the senators regarding Balochistan problems, Leader of the House Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said the welfare schemes promised with the Baloch people welfare would be implemented. He said although the maintenance of law and order was a provincial subject, the federal government had still provided all out support to ensure peace in the province. Responding to a call attention notice moved by Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, State Minister for Production Khawaja Sheraz Mahmood told the House that the issue of missing NATO and ISAF containers had been thoroughly probed and according to the findings by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), over 28,800 containers had gone missing during the last few years.
He said the Supreme Court had also taken a suo motu notice on the issue and had served notices to the all parties concerned, including the National Logistics Cell (NLC) and clearing agents. He said so far 22 officers had been given a charge sheet in the case. Bilour accused the NLC of being the main culprit in the scam.
Responding to a point of order raised by Prof Sajid Mir regarding gas shortage in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Bukhari said the government’s policy was to provide uninterrupted gas to domestic consumers. He said a meeting in this regard had been convened with high officials of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) on Saturday to discuss the problem and find out solutions.
