- PPP, PML-N members exchange barbs in NA
- Govt conveys message to insurgents not to hamper relief work in quake-hit areas
- Kashmir attack not to hamper Nawaz-Manmohan meeting
Amid ruckus of the treasury and opposition benches over the failure of the previous government of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to arrest the assassins of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the National Assembly on Friday made a significant achievement by unanimously adopting a resolution seeking immediate and strong action by provincial governments against the suspects involved in rape cases against minors.
The House was also updated on the government’s response and ground situation in Balochistan’s earthquake affected areas with Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Lt General (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch telling the lawmakers that the government had conveyed to the insurgents through locals that the army was only involved in rescue and relief operations and they should not hamper them.
Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rahman moved a resolution in the House, calling for legislation for exemplary punishment to rapists of the women and minors in the country.
“The rape of a five-year-old girl in Lahore and seven-year-old in Tharparkar which recently surfaced has shocked the entire nation. It is most unfortunate that rape cases go unabated and culprits are not arrested,” she added.
The resolution also asked the government to provide protection and care and maintain strict privacy of the children and the families in these cases. It also asked for amendments to the law so that exemplary punishment could be awarded to rapists.
A heated argument triggered between the lawmakers of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PPP over remarks by Minister for Kashmir Affairs Berjees Tahir against the PPP’s rule which attracted a strong reaction, with the opposition party’s legislators raising slogans.
Winding up a debate on former president Asif Ali Zardari’s last address to parliament, Tahir lambasted the PPP’s government performance and criticised the tenure of Zardari as president.
Due to the strong sloganeering by the PPPP members, the PML-N minister hurriedly wound up the debate and came down hard on what he called the “poor performance of the PPPP government”.
Referring to Article 41 of the constitution, he said some former presidents including Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf used the Presidency for political activities and added that the same pattern was followed by Zardari.
He said Zardari in an interview to a foreign newspaper had termed the US attack on al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad “a big achievement”.
He said during the PPP’s government, the prices of daily used items had been increased manifold which added to the miseries faced by the poor.
However, PPP lawmaker Nafeesa Shah made an attempt to respond to Tahir.
“It is injustice to compare Asif Ali Zardari with Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf. The speech by Tahir did not reflect sense of the House,” she said.
Baloch informed the House that they had given a message to the insurgents not to hamper rescue operation in the affected areas. “Through locals, we have sent the insurgents a message not to create resistance in rescue operation,” he said, adding that the army’s focus was only relief and rescue and they were not going to launch any operation against them.
He said rescue operation in the quake-affected areas of Awaran and Kech was being pushed up and the army was reaching to difficult terrains. He added that the government had not launched any appeal to the international community seeking help in this regard. Baloch said the affected people had requested rescue and relief work under the supervision of the army.
Sharing updated figures of the dead and injured, the minister said over 100,000 people had been affected and the relief operations were reaching out to the people of inaccessible areas. He said 30 doctors including female gynaecologists had arrived in the affected areas to provide treatment facilities to the victims and operating rooms had also been established there.
PPP President Amin Fahim, on a point of order, expressed solidarity with the victims of Balochistan’s earthquake. He also lauded the Pakistan Army’s effort for rescue and relief work in difficult circumstances.
The House also adopted a motion to promote friendly relations between parliamentarians of Pakistan and other friendly states. “This House resolves to establish parliamentary friendship groups with 88 countries including India, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Netherlands, Oman, China, the UK and others,” the motion added.
A bill titled The National Judicial (policy making) committee ordinance, 2013 was also introduced in the House, saying after establishment of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), it was imperative that Section 3 of the ordinance be amended to include chief justice of the IHC as member of the National Judicial (policy making committee) Commission.
Shaikh Rashid Ahmed of the Awami Muslim League pointed out allegations of misappropriation of funds in purchase of medicine for parliament’s dispensary, stating that a loss of Rs 1.1 million had been recorded.
Taking notice of the allegation, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced immediate audit of the funds for the past four years and three months’ time of the PML-N’s tenure.
He said audit would be conducted from 2002-2007 and from 2008 to 2013. He added that three months audit of incumbent government would also be conducted with a special focus on the allegation.
NAWAZ-SINGH MEETING:
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad informed the House that the killing of Indian security personnel in attack by Kashmiri freedom fighters would not affect the proposed meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York.
To a question during the question hour, the minister said some elements were linking this incident with the LoC violations in a bid to derail the dialogue process, but they will not succeed in their designs.
He also expressed hope that a positive outcome will emerge from the meeting.
In response to another question, Shaikh said India had committed violations at the LoC 24 times during 2012 and 59 times in 2013. During these incidents, 10 soldiers and eight civilians were martyred, he concluded.
Later, the House was prorogued.
