The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Tuesday demanded the government to ban the Peoples’ Amn Committee (PAC) and to disclose the details of the Lyari gang war terrorists arrested recently from Lahore.
During the second day of the fifth session of the National Assembly (NA), the House adopted five resolutions besides condemning the upper Dir incident in which top military officials were martyred.
The NA members of the MQM gave a tough time to the government benches over the issue of the ongoing targeted operations in Karachi in a bid to ensure law and order in the city.
The MQM parliamentarians termed the operations as an intentional campaign to curb the influence of the MQM, saying that their party was being victimised in the guise of the so-called targeted operations and the terrorists in Karachi were moving freely.
MQM parliamentarian Waseem Hussain raised questions on the targeted operations in Karachi and said the recent arrest of the Lyari gang war terrorists from Lahore proved that all allegations against his party of disrupting peace in Karachi were wrong.
Another NA member from the MQM, Sajid Ahmad, said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in Sindh had taken some hasty decisions, such as the arrest of a former member of the Sindh Assembly belonging to the MQM. He also demanded a ban on the PAC and urged the government to make public the details of the recent arrest of Lyari gang members from Lahore.
He alleged that PPP provincial assembly member (MPA) Sania Naz was involved in shifting the Lyari gang members from Karachi to Punjab and called for appropriate action against her.
PPP’s Shazia Marri said the PPP had not interrupted the investigations being carried out by the law enforcers and had never given calls to shut down the city.
“If any criminal element has escaped the country then it is a matter related to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA),” Marri said.
HOUSE CONDEMNS DIR ATTACK:
The House also passed a unanimous resolution condemning the attack on the army officers in Upper Dir. The resolution, moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, stated that the House fully supported the army in the war against terrorism.
The resolution lauded the bravery of the Pakistani soldiers and called upon the government to recognise the sacrifices rendered by the army in the fight against terrorism.
NA ADOPTS FIVE RESOLUTIONS:
The NA also adopted five resolutions as it called upon the government to take steps to eliminate terrorism, abolish the system of interest, take Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) out of crisis and supply gas to district Buner.
Twenty four NA members from the treasury and opposition benches debated upon the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. Five bills, including the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Local Government Bill 2013, the National Database and Registration Authority (Amendment Bill) 2013, the Political Parties Order (Amendment Bill) 2013, the Publication of the Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) (Amendment) Bill 2013 and the HIV/AIDS (Safety and Control) Bill 2013 were introduced and referred to the relevant standing committees.
Replying to a call attention notice‚ State Minister Aftab said the government had decided not to lay off a single employee of the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) during the privatisation of 26 percent of the airline’s shares.
He said around 19,400 people working in the PIA hold 12 percent of the airline’s share. He said government would retain the management of the airline as 62 percent shares will remain with government.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Asad Umar said the real terms and conditions of the agreement with IMF should be presented to the public.
“Around 1.2 million people are expected to become unemployed because of the terms and conditions of the IMF agreement and by the end of the current fiscal year‚ 5.5 percent inflation given by the previous government‚ will rise to 12 percent,” said Umar, adding that the government had printed notes worth Rs 636 billion.
State minister Aftab assured the House that in the next five years Pakistan would emerge as a strong economy and would eventually get rid of the IMF.
The House will hold its next meeting today.
