Senators from the opposition and the government sides were of the view on Tuesday that no one could expect security when security institutions of the state themselves start killing the people.
Meanwhile, the Senate deputy chairman formed a committee after walkouts of the JUI-F and the ANP regarding torture of police on the surgeon who had conducted an autopsy of the five Chechens killed in Kharotabad, and the journalist who had reported the incident.
The opposition parties, besides the JUI-F, remained absent in the Senate throughout the day in protest against the appointment of Abdul Gaffoor Haideri as leader of the opposition in the Senate. Speaking on a point of order, PPP Senator Lashkari Raisani said police had crossed its limits in the Kharotabd incident.
He said it was extremely disappointing that security officials were killing people in Balochistan and Sindh. ANP Senator Zahid Khan said journalists and common citizens were being killed and no one was taking action. He also said that a report on the killing of Wali Babar had been completed but no one had been arrested so far.
PPP Senator Raza Rabbani said the recent killings of innocent people by the law enforcement agencies put a question mark on their performance. ANP Senator Afrasiab Khattak said torture of a journalist and the surgeon was condemnable. He said that the government had not formed commissions to probe various incidents of torture and killings.
“Had such commissions been made things would have been different,” he said, demanding the commissions already named should be made functional. The leader of the opposition said after the incidents of killings in Karachi and Quetta, officials of the law enforcement departments tortured the surgeon and the journalist. In reply to the senators’ criticism, Leader of the House Senator Nayyar Bukhari said he had no objection if the chair wanted to form a subcommittee on the issues.
Deputy Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali formed a subcommittee consisting of senators from Sindh and Balochistan to probe the two incidents of Karachi. The deputy chairman also demanded security for the journalist who had recorded the killings of Sarfraz by the Rangers.
