The combined opposition in Senate on Tuesday staged a walkout against reported signing of a "non-transparent" liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with Qatar for 15 years. They lawmakers also staged a walkout against the maltreatment meted out to a Christian schoolgirl at a school in Faisalabad, where a teacher stopped her from using a bathroom for being a non-Muslim.
The MPs belonging to both treasury and opposition called upon the government to speed up relief and rehabilitation operations in the earthquake-affected areas besides increasing the limit of cash amount for the quake victims. Speaking on a point of public importance, Senator Kamil Ali Agha of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), said the opposition had been asking the government to explain its position in relation to the proposed LNG deal with Qatar for the last one and half years.
He regretted that the government did pay no heed to its demand to apprise the opposition on an important deal with Qatri government, "It's very unfortunate to see the petroleum minister making statements after the [LNG] deal was exposed by the media that it is very expensive," he said. By pressing the government to clear its position on the issue, the enraged lawmaker staged walkout, which forced the combined opposition to follow him.
Before leaving the house in protest against the controversial LNG deal, opposition leader in Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said the walkout is also against Faisalabad government school incident where a schoolgirl was beaten up for using a washroom. He said that it is extremely painful to note that non-Muslims are being treated in such a way which is not only shameful for Pakistan but for the whole Muslim world. He said that the registration of a case against those involved in the crime must not be delayed.
Mohsin Aziz of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) strongly protested over government's reluctance to hold a debate on the LNG deal with Qatar. He also touched upon the textile industry's woes, claiming its decline had rendered as many as 1.5 million workers jobless. He said, "This is the situation of the textile industry but the government is acting like a silent spectator. What is the use of our being here in Senate...is this only a debating club?"
Senator Sherry Rehman of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) asked why a Christian student was barred from using a washroom and also denied access to water. She quoted a news report; according to which, the headmistress of that school asked her not to drink water, which she said was meant only for Muslim students.
Then she was subjected to beating and was locked in the washroom. She remained in the washroom for four hours before she was taken out by some other Muslim students. The PPP senator said it was a matter of shame that while the House discussed militancy and intolerance against minorities in India, such kind of treatment was meted out to a Christian student in Faisalabad. The chair asked the Leader of the House, Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, to share the incident-related details with the House Wednesday, who also condemned it and wanted an action against those involved in it.
Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani had to briefly (for ten minutes) suspend the House proceedings after Law Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid could not come to the house despite the fact that as many as five agenda items were related to his ministry. He was said to be busy with Prime Minister in connection with a ceremony in honour of the Belarusian Prime Minister.
Earlier, during a question hour, several questions relating to the Ministry of Water and Power were left out after the House was informed that Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali had said that he was already busy at a function hosted by the prime minister. The chair expressed displeasure by saying that although there were two ministers for the Ministry of Water and Power but none was around. He warned of banning entry of the minister for some sittings, if he stayed away in future. PPP's Senator Karim Khawaja drew the attention of the Senate towards a news report, which said over 50 candidates, belonging to the banned outfits, had returned in the recent local bodies' polls in Punjab.
In an obvious reference to PM's recent visit to Lodhran to support his party candidate Siddique Baloch, Aitzaz said that why would the prime minister pay any heed to the plight of the earthquake victims as they do not have "any Baloch". "If a lucky man like Siddiuqe Baloch could have been in earthquake hit areas, the prime minister would have certainly paid Rs 2.5 billion, which he announced in Lodhran public meeting the other day...he [PM] would announce Rs 2.5 billion, whereas PML-N candidate had requested for Rs 2 billion funds for the constituency. I'm in search of a Siddique Baloch for the quake victims," he remarked.
PPP's Taj Haider, PML-Q's Mushahid Hussain Syed, Kamil Agha, Nauman Wazir and Mohsin Aziz of PTI, ANP's Shahi Syed, Sherry Rehman, Farhatullah Babar of PPP, MQM's Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Muhammad Ali Saif and Nasreen Jalil, Jamaat-e-Islami's Sirajul Haq, Karim Khawaja and Javed Abbasi of PML-N called for accelerating the pace of relief and rehabilitation activities in view of snowfall and rains in the quake-devastated areas. They regretted that no lessons had been learnt from the 2005 natural disaster and even the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) could not develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to deal with a disaster. They noted that there was no concept of implementation of the building code 2007.
The senators called for establishment of a full-fledged Ministry of Disaster Management with the merger of NDMA and ERRA. They also underscored the need for evolving a mechanism to punish those who violated the building code and used substandard construction material. The senators had a discussion on a report presented by the Minister Incharge of the Climate Change in the House and the adjournment motion by Mashhadi regarding the failure of the government in implementation of the Pakistan Engineering Council Building Code, 2007.
Senator Babar there was a serious disconnect between the government and the military with regards to the recent earthquake as the civilian authorities were caught unaware of the disaster while ISPR was informing people about the earthquake. The ruling PML-N Senator, Salahuddin Tirmizi, wondered whether there was any use of having a discussion on the matter in the Senate.
The chair referred the ministry's report to the House committee on Law and Justice to see its implementation and air proposals and other steps and the matter relating to performance of NDMA and ERRA was referred to the House committee on Cabinet Division. Both would submit reports on the first sitting of the next Senate session. Through a calling attention notice, Shahi Syed raised the issue of non-payment of salaries to the daily wage employees of Model colleges in Islamabad for the last six months. He called for immediate payments to teachers and other employees and regularisation of their services.
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