Two government allies on Friday locked horns over the issue of targeted killings in Karachi, with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) taking exception to the alleged remarks by Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Ilyas Bilour at a television talk show claiming that his party had taught a good lesson to the MQM in Karachi. Speaking on a point of order, MQM’s Parliamentary Leader Dr Farooq Sattar blamed Bilour for saying at a talk show that “this was the ANP that taught a good lesson’ to the MQM, as Sindhi landlords could not take such actions against the MQM. Sattar said the confession by Bilour could prove an important lead towards unearthing the real culprits behind the massacres in Karachi. He urged the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the ANP leader’s statement. He also demanded the federal and provincial interior ministers to take notice of the statement.
Sattar added that the claim by Bilour proved that the ANP was involved in the killing of hundreds of Urdu-speaking people in Karachi. He claimed that the ANP leadership had decided to reward Shahi Syed, the ANP Sindh chief, with a Senate ticket for his criminal involvement in the killing. However, ANP legislator Bushra Gohar rejected the claims by Sattar, saying the ANP was a democratic force and MQM’s allegations against their provincial leadership were false. She expressed her surprise over the claim made by the MQM leader.
Meanwhile, the unrest in Balochistan echoed in the Lower House for the fourth consecutive day, as legislators from the violence-hit province raised the matter again when Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani attended the session briefly. However, the PM found it fit to ask Interior Minister Rehman Malik to respond to the points raised by Baloch MPs. The minister assured the House of giving a detailed briefing next week on the Balochistan unrest and the government’s implementation on the Balochistan reforms package.
It was treasury MNA Humayun Aziz Kurd who drew the attention of the House towards the worsening law and order situation in the province. Yaqoob Bizenjo emotionally asked the prime minister to brief the House on the Balochistan issue. Responding to the points raised by Balochistan MNAs, Malik promised a detailed in-House briefing over the Balochistan situation soon. He clarified the statement wherein he was reported as saying that in order to talk with the Baloch militants, some of them should publicly surrender their weapons. He said his statement was aimed at sending a positive message to the militants.Bizenjo said Balochistan was burning and the killing of Balochi, Sindhi, Punjabi and Pashtuns continued. He deplored that the government was not bothered with resolving the matters of the province seriously.
He said each child of Balochistan was looking towards the prime minister for justice but to no avail. Bizenjo regretted that political parties got united on constitutional amendments, but there was no message of unity from them over the Balochistan issue. Humayun Aziz Kurd said he had been continuously saying for the last four years that the US was working on a plan to separate Balochistan from Pakistan. He pointed out that the US Congress holding a hearing on Balochistan was a testimony to this fact. “An international game is being played in Balochistan,” Kurd said, adding that the people of Balochistan should be told where to go if their problems were not being resolved.
ANP’s Bushra Gohar also joined the debate and expressed concerns over the US congressional hearing on Balochistan issue. She said that this should have been done by the Pakistan’s parliamentary committee. Resumption of US drone attacks in the Tribal Areas also surfaced in the proceedings when MNA Zafar Baig Bhittani said the government woke up over the US attack on Salala check post by suspending NATO supplies, but a complete silence prevailed over the killing of thousands of tribesmen in drone attacks.
“If you can’t protect us, either give us independence or hand us over to some other country which can protect us,” Bhittani observed. Earlier, journalists staged a walkout from the press gallery against the mistreatment meted out to two journalists by the staff of National Assembly. However, they ended their walkout on the assurance of government.
