ISLAMABAD: The joint opposition in the National Assembly Monday came down hard on the government, saying its “criminal negligence” led to the death of at least 22 tourists as it failed to manage tourist influx into the hill station over the weekend and called for holding a thorough probe into the incident through a judicial commission.
The house was supposed to discuss the controversial Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2022, but it had to defer the debate till today (Tuesday), suspending the agenda of the day to debate the Murree incident.
Soon after the recitation of the holy Quran, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said that the house would discuss the tragic incident in Murree and would discuss the finance bill on Tuesday as an understanding had been reached with the opposition.
Initiating the debate on the incident, the opposition leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif lambasted the government over its failure to handle to situation which resulted in loss of 22 precious lives.
“This is cruel that nobody from the government asked about the wellbeing of the people, innocent children, youth and elderly for 20 hours when they remained stuck in the heavy snowfall,” he regretted.
A visibly infuriated Sharif questioned whether the incident was a natural occurrence or manslaughter, adding the reality is that there were no arrangements in place as traffic officials and authorities responsible for removing the snow were not present.
“The people kept looking for help but no one turned up...this was a criminal act of negligence and inefficiency and cannot be pardoned. When the Met Office had warned of excessive snowfall, what measures did the government take,” he questioned.
He said that people were unable to visit for the past two years due to the pandemic, but their happiness had turned into sorrow due to the government’s corrupt approach, worst criminal negligence and administrative inefficiency.
He said that the entire country was grieving but government officials were not bothered.
In an obvious reference to Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, he said that a sitting minister had commented during this period about how good the country’s economy was doing which was evident in the way thousands were visiting Murree.
He alleged that the government dealt with the incident in the same way it was handling the country.
He said that the government was 100 per cent responsible for the deaths of the tourists, adding the nation will not forgive them and will hold them accountable.
Instead, he demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the incident, so that the culprits could be exposed.
The information minister spoke after Shehbaz wrapped up his tirade against the government and lashed out at the opposition leader for speaking like a “show-off” instead of a leader.
“He [Shehbaz] is here after taking an exemption from court. I thought he would speak like a leader but he has once again proven that he is just a show-off who has nothing to say,” said Chaudhry.
He said that the entire nation was in sorrow over the incident in Murree, adding it was believed that the incident would be discussed in a manner that leads to unity, but leaders are born and not made through false means.
He claimed that the Sharif family had built palaces using government resources instead of spending it on development and infrastructure in Punjab and Murree.
These people are questioning a government that created 13 new tourist resorts in three years, he said, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan was the first to promote the country as a tourist destination.
“Today, when there is a revolution in the country’s tourism, they are teaching us about what should and should not have been done,” he added.
He said that more than 100,000 tourists entered Murree over the span of five days, adding the PTI MNAs and MPAs were helping with the rescue efforts, while the PML-N leaders were nowhere to be spotted.
“There was no other party present on the ground except for the PTI,” he said, adding that the roads were cleared in 24 hours. “The Punjab chief minister, the federal government, PTI ministers and workers were all in Murree.”
The minister said that there was a tragic incident every other day when Shehbaz was the Punjab chief minister, adding that during the PML-N’s tenure their focus was on building their “palaces”.
“A new reality of domestic tourism has developed in Pakistan which can’t be operated using the old administrative setup. The government is trying to implement a more modern setup and administrative structure to cater to this large number of people.”
He said that because of the ineptitude of the past governments, the current one had to build everything from scratch. “We are building the Naya Pakistan we had promised.”
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari began by lamenting the fact that innocent families and children, who were stranded in snow a mere two hours from the capital, did not receive the help they deserved.
In an obvious reference to PM Khan’s sister Aleema Khan’s rescue from Chitral in wake of floods in the area in 2019, he said that the whole government machinery sprang into action and choppers were sent off to the mountains of Chitral to bring back a close relative of the prime minister but tourists in Murree were left at the mercy of God.
He said that the common man was in danger just two hours away from the Prime Minister’s House, adding there were messages on social media, phone calls were being made to bureaucrats and to police officials, so that someone could take notice.
In an apparent reference to Chaudhry, who had left the assembly at this point, Bilawal said that a minister was celebrating the influx of tourists in Murree and hailed it as proof of the country’s economic progress.
“And when news of the incident broke, instead of expressing grief and ensuring help, the same minister started victim-blaming on social media and said that the people shouldn’t have gone,” he added.
He said that the country hadn’t ever seen such hypocrisy, but added that this was expected from this government, adding since the PTI government came into power, the prime minister and officials always blame the victims.
He recalled that when the Hazaras in Quetta staged a protest in early 2021 against the killing of 11 miners in a residential compound near a mine site in Balochistan’s Mach coalfield area, PM Imran had told them to stop blackmailing him by refusing to bury the bodies.
He noted that the government officials had also done the same when the gang-rape of a woman occurred on the Lahore motorway in 2020.
He reiterated the opposition leader’s demand for a judicial inquiry into the incident, so that action could be taken against those responsible.
PPP’s Khursheed Shah and PTI’s Riaz Fatyana were among several lawmakers that addressed the session after Bilawal concluded his speech.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)’s Maulana Asad Mehmood said that a judicial commission should be constituted to probe the matter.
He said that the prime minister should come to the house and apologise to the nation on the incident.
Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said that a parliamentary committee should be constituted comprising treasury and opposition members to probe the incident.
PTI MNA from Murree Sadaqat Ali Abbasi said deaths in Murree incident occurred due to excessive amount of carbon monoxide, accumulated in vehicles when passengers kept engines of their vehicles on to protect themselves from snowstorm.
He said the entire civil administration and Rescue-1122 services tirelessly worked to rescue people, adding rescue work hindered due to fallen trees and electricity towers but despite all that the administrations successfully opened roads in minimum possible time. The house was adjourned till Tuesday at 4pm.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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