FROM A RIGNSIDE SEAT

It was surprising that Speaker Amir Hussain adjourned the National Assembly's Tuesday sitting after less than two hours' business just because he said he felt exhausted, and the treasury members, too, were in no mood to stay any longer in the House. "It is enough. I am exhausted. We have done significant legislation," were the Speaker's remarks.
As usual, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz met long queues of ministers and MNAs in the absence of the party leader Shujaat Hussain. Members also held separate small group meetings on both sides of the aisle, maybe about their future line of action, as elections are not too far away.
'Combined' opposition staged a token walkout after the Speaker reserved his ruling on admissibility of their adjournment motions regarding filing of false cases against Hanif Abbasi, Mehmoodul Hasan and Asad, and 'pre-poll' rigging.
The chair, however, as promised on Monday, allowed brief speeches on admissibility of the motions. Aitzaz Ahsan, Liaquat Baloch, Pervaiz Malik, Saad Rafique and Farid Paracha said that pressure tactics clearly indicated that state machinery was being used to file concocted cases against opposition candidates to either withdraw or change loyalties. They charged that the sanctity of the electoral process was being flouted with impunity, and the Election Commission played deaf and dumb.
Law Minister Wasi Zafar, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan rejected opposition's arguments and said that the Election Commission was independent and was looking into hundreds of cases. They also rejected 'conspiracy theory' vis-à-vis the polls.
Wasi said that opposition's defeat was imminent; therefore, they were trying to mislead the nation. "They even don't have candidates to field," he replied.
It was private members' day, and 105 items were on the 'orders of the day'. Some important treasury members' bills were rejected by none other than their own colleagues. These included the bill to amend the Foreigners Act, 1946, the bill to amend Islamabad Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Ordinance, 1979.
Opposition's bills included the bill to amend the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances), Ordinance, 2001 and a bill to control the rapidly increasing deadly disease of HIV and AIDS.
Only 15 items could be dealt with, including a calling attention notice by five treasury members. They wanted to know reasons about exclusion of history of Pakistan events from 1857 to 1947 from intermediate curriculum.
The government found itself in a 'catch-22' situation when Railways Parliamentary Secretary Tufail, who has the reputation of calling a spade a spade, wanted to know why the nomination papers of a retired general, Majid Malik, 'who was not elevated to the coveted post of the commander-in-chief at the last moment', were rejected.
"It has caused embarrassment for Pakistan that a retired general's papers were rejected, declaring his matriculation certificate as fake. The government must explain. The entire nation and the House is concerned. The Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Law be consulted before explaining the matter on the floor of the House," he asserted.
He called for accountability of the returning officer who declared his certificate fake. He cautioned that the country could face serious repercussions if those who ridiculed the law were not held accountable, he said.
The opposition welcomed his remarks with thumping of desks.
General Malik, a veteran politician from Chakwal, defying party's decision of fielding Abbas as candidate for the slot of nazim, decided to vie for the post. He is ready even to quit as PML senior vice-president. Is his defiance a tip of the iceberg vis-à-vis divisions in the party?
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan, tried to play down the matter, saying that the House should not pass comments as the matter was sub judice. He added the member could go to courts for appeal. At this stage, some opposition members wanted to speak, but were not allowed. Malik's son-in-law, a retired major, Tahir Iqbal, who is Federal Minister for Environment sat mute.
Parliamentary Secretary for Education Jafar Devan Bokhari apparently tried to mislead the House on a calling attention notice. Mehnaz Rafi, MP Bhandara, Aasia Azeem, Zeb Gohar and Nawab Mirza contended that deletion of part of Pakistan's history from the curriculum would not augur well for the country.
Jafar, at least thrice, insisted that several chapters "are taught to students" in classes VII and VIII about Pakistan Movement, and Two-Nation Theory and related events. However, he kept mum over reports of deletion of part of history of Pakistan from the curriculum at intermediate level.
When pressed, he, without conceding that the said material had been excluded, promised that the government would consider its inclusion afresh. "Our children ask us, watching the Indian media invasion, as to why Pakistan was created when there was hardly any difference between Pakistan and Indian culture," Aasia Azeem said.
The movers argued that there was need to strengthen the two-nation theory, but instead, measures were being made otherwise. Reports about changes in the syllabi have been rampant in recent years. Even a report claimed that President Musharraf, during his meeting with US President Bush, promised to delete material about Jihad and other religions creating hatred. Though, Jafar Devaan said, President Musharraf made no promise.