Senators belonging to various political parties on Tuesday demanded that the officials of law enforcement agencies, and ministries of interior and defence should be summoned to brief the Upper House about the reasons behind “intelligence failure” in Balochistan.
Speaking on an adjournment motion moved by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Tahir Mashhadi, Leader of the Opposition Ishaq Dar said that Interior Minister Rehman Malik should be directed to brief the House in camera about the threats being faced by the country and the measures being taken to cope with those threats. Condemning the attack on the Hazara people, he said that Pakistan’s only problem was lack of implementation of policies.
Mashhadi said there should be a system of reward and punishment in the law enforcement agencies. Criminals should be treated as criminals, he added.
He said that banned groups were involved in the carnage of Pakistanis, adding that law enforcement agencies must be equipped with adequate facilities to exterminate the menace of terrorism from the country.
He said the Quaid-e-Azam wanted a liberal, modern and democratic Pakistan. He wanted unity among the citizens but nothing of such sort was existing in the country. He said that on January 10, 2013, as many as 115 people had been killed and over 200 had sustained injuries, but no action had been taken against the officials responsible for maintaining law and order in the province.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Rafique Rajwana said a committee should be constituted with the mandate to probe the Quetta incident.
Mir Hasil Bazinjo of the Balochistan National Party said that in the last two and half years, over 3,150 people had been killed in the province, including 1,300 non-Baloch, 850 Baloch and over 1,000 Hazaras. He said that the terrorists’ foreign connection could not be overlooked, adding that law enforcers should be summoned to brief the Senate about the carnage in the province and measures taken to stop the killings.
Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Haji Adeel said that Pakistani law enforcers were capable of overcoming the menace of terrorism, as with their active help, Sri Lanka had managed to exterminate the menace of terrorism.
Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) said that governor’s rule had not helped in maintaining peace in the province. In the last one month, a total of 130 people have been killed in Balochistan, 17 people have been kidnapped and over 100 have sustained injuries, he said. He announced a token walkout from the House against Balochistan carnage.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the killings of such scale were the result of negligence of relevant law enforcement agencies. On January 18, 2008, when the transition from dictatorship to democracy was in process, two terrorists Usman Kurd and Dawood Badini had fled despite the announcement of death sentence from an anti-terror court. He said the Senate’s Human Rights Committee had raised the issue but in vain. The officials of the ministries of interior and defence should be asked about the reasons for not arresting the convicted terrorists who had fled.
Mohsin Leghari, an independent senator from Punjab, said loopholes in the intelligence system should be plugged and witnesses should be provided protection.
Senators Farhat Abbas and Surayya Amiruddin also spoke and condemned the killings in Quetta.
The Senate chairman adjourned the House until Wednesday, and announced that the debate on Quetta killings would continue.