Aitzaz Ahsan locks horns with govt ministers in Senate for second time in two days
Says govt not serious about Mina stampede victims; Opp stages walk out from Senate
Pervaiz Rashid Mina says stampede should not be used for political point scoring
The opposition members on Thursday staged a walk out from the Senate during the fourth sitting of the ongoing 120th session of the Upper House, against the government’s attitude towards Mina stampede and for not allowing members to speak on political issues, including tax returns of the prime minister.
Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said that the ruling party was trying to suppress the issue. He criticised the government in his speech in the Senate session chaired by Deputy Chairman Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.
He not only alleged the government of corruption but also termed it insensitive and inefficient. He said that the government had left Pakistani pilgrims alone in tough times and was trying to cover the situation through the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
He said that at least 300 Pakistanis were either missing or martyred in Mina stampede. Had the government ordered ministry to put pictures and thumb impressions of the pilgrims on website, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) would have found the identities of the victims, he added.
Responding to Aitzaz’s scathing criticism, Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid said that the PPP senator fully knew the procedure. He said that Aitzaz must also know Saudi Arabia’s Hajj regulations under which the intending pilgrims sign agreement with the Kingdom for burying them in the holy land in case of their death. He said majority of relatives of the pilgrims also wished to bury their near and dear ones in the holy land.
The minister said that efforts were made at diplomatic level to repatriate bodies of deceased pilgrims on the request of their relatives. He also quoted example of the nephew of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, whose dead body was shifted to Pakistan.
He said that there were no divisions between both aisles of the House over Mina tragedy and the whole house was equally grieved.
Rejecting the claim of the opposition leader on the prime minister’s tax returns, the minister said that Prime Minister Sharif had paid Rs 4 million income tax this year.
Regarding PEMRA directives to the television channels, Rashid said no formal directives were issued to them with reference to Mina tragedy. However, keeping in view diplomatic relations between the two countries, a humble request was forwarded to the channels to remain cautious on the issue. He said that since its inception, the incumbent government took pragmatic steps to fully facilitate pilgrims.
Rashid said that Mina stampede tragedy should neither be politicized, nor should it be used for political point scoring.
The federal minister said that pilgrims had cursed the last government for irregularities on its part.
OPPOSITION WALKS OUT:
The opposition walked out of the Senate after Rashid’s remarks. The deputy chairman said that the nation should wait for investigative report by Saudi Arabia. There must not be any politics over Mina stampede, he added.
Rashid made an attempt to reconcile with the opposition. However, he returned and told the session that the protesting members would not attend the sitting.
After the walkout, the sitting was adjourned due to lack of quorum as minimum required strength of 26 lawmakers (25%) was not available in the House to continue the proceedings.
The House was then adjourned till Friday due to lack of quorum.