The Upper House of Parliament on Thursday condemned the US congressional committee hearing on Balochistan unrest. Speaking on a point of order, Senator Raza Rabbani of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said that it was a direct assault on Pakistan's sovereignty and made it clear that no foreign country would be allowed to examine anything inside Pakistan.
"I condemn this in the strongest possible terms...we are not ready to accept any such message as we are a sovereign state. The US, which has a track record of human rights violations across the globe, ought to think twice before taking any such step", he added.
Rabbani, who is also chairman of parliamentarians committee on national security, called upon the government to take serious note of the US committee hearing over Balochistan issue and tell the US clearly that how dare it called a meeting over purely an internal issue of a sovereign state. He said if the government failed to take appropriate action, he as a chairman of parliamentarians committee on national security will take a sou moto notice of the hearing. "We are an independent and sovereign state and no external power will be allowed to interfere in our internal matters", he added.
Terming the US as world's worst human rights abusers, Rabbani warned that Balochistan issue must not be used as a political tool and reminded the US not to forget the rampant HRs violations in countries under its hegemony. He said, "if interference in the internal matters of sovereign countries is a must, we will also ask one of our parliamentary committees to take up rights abuses taking place in countries under US control."
Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel of Awami National Party (ANP) said that the world had become a global village and "we can not stop HR groups to speak against the atrocities taking place on our soil." "We should stop killing of our people, and prove that we take strict notice of rights abuses and if the trend of collecting mutilated dead bodies from the streets continues, then do not expect the world to remain silent", he added.
Another ANP Senator Zahid Khan also endorsed the views expressed by his fellow colleague, saying that instead of being furious, we should put our own house in order. "Did we ever ask who throw these mutilated bodies on the streets, did we ever determine who is behind killing of these innocent children and women", he questioned.
Kalsoom Perveen, a Senator from restive Balochistan province, said US should not interfere in Pakistan's internal affairs. "This is our problem and we can solve it in a better way, so stay away from us," she added. Senator Professor Ibrahim Khan of Jamat-e-Islami said, "We have the capacity to resolve our issues without seeking help from anybody." He called upon the US to learn respecting human rights first instead of trying to become master for others.
Senator Ahmed Ali of Muttahida Qaumi Movement regretted the US congressional committee meeting, saying US should have taken up such steps of rights abuses in held Kashmir instead of exploiting Balochistan situation, which was purely an internal matter of Pakistan.
Another Baloch Senator Abdul Rahim Mandokhel asked the government to take concrete measures for eradicating killing of innocent people without any trail. "If we could not stop these heinous crimes, claiming several precious several innocent lives every now then, we can't stop others to point fingers on us", he cautioned.
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