Dr Shakil may be handed over to US? Senate chief summons foreign, interior ministers

Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani Friday promptly summoned both foreign and interior ministers to brief the House on Monday after rumors started making the rounds that Dr Shakil Afridi was airlifted to garrison city of Rawalpindi from Peshawar and may come out of the prison. Speaking on a point of public importance, former chairman Senate Raza Rabbani expressed concern over the reports that the medic who helped Americans in tracking down Al-Qaeda's founding chief Osama bin Laden may be handed over to the US.
Referring to media reports, he said the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) failed to conduct an operation to stage a jailbreak for Dr Shakil Afridi, after Islamabad turned down Washington's request to extradite Afridi to the US. "We heard all this in the media, but when Foreign Office spokesman refused to confirm the jailbreak reports, saying it is the job of Interior Ministry, it made us believe that the jailbreak reports to get him [Afridi] released by the CIA could be true," he exclaimed.
Expressing the dismay over the reports, Rabbani demanded the chairman Senate to summon the foreign affairs minister and interior minister to brief the House about the controversy. The chairman Senate directed both the minister for foreign affairs, as the portfolio is being held by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi after the disqualification of Khawaja Muhammad Asif by Islamabad High Court (IHC), and the interior minister to brief the House about the issue on Monday.
Reports about an alleged Pakistan-US deal surfaced last week when authorities confirmed without explaining that Afridi had been airlifted from Peshawar to the main prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. The transfer took place ahead of the May 2 anniversary of the OBL raid, prompting speculation that Afridi could be on his way out of imprisonment. The reports said that the US officials have not offered any comments on the latest developments involving the doctor.
Earlier, taking part in budget debate, the lawmakers belonging to opposition parties flayed the government for the recently announced special tax amnesty scheme, saying it is nothing but an attempt to facilitate its cronies who had stashed national wealth in foreign banks. They said the tax waiver was promulgated through a presidential ordinance at a time when both Houses of the Parliament - National Assembly and Senate - had already been summoned by no other than the President of Pakistan.
"The amnesty schemes coupled with the excessive borrowing have always remained the hallmark of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) whenever it came to power. The amnesty scheme is meant to protect its cronies whose wealth is in danger after foreign countries tightened the noose around them," said PTI Senator Muhammad Ayub. Senator Maula Baksh Chandio of PPP severely criticized the ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, saying 'whatever he and his daughter [Maryam] are facing after Panama Leaks is a divine retribution as what Sharifs did with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and late Benazir Bhutto was too cruel.'
Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami termed the budget as anti-FATA and said both Islamabad and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas come under administrative control of the federal government, but the FATA situation is self-explanatory as it is not the priority of the ruling party. Speaking on a point of public importance, Opposition Leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman called upon the government to take practical measure to overcome the looming water crisis in the country.
"We are already in a water crisis, running out of groundwater and if no action is taken now, we will end up having to ration water. I have constantly raised this issue in the House," she added. Rehman, voicing her concern about the disturbing climate trends, said, "On top of all this, we are witnessing extreme weather conditions in Pakistan. Only a few days ago, temperature soared to 51 degrees Celsius in Nawabshah, Sindh. This is the highest April temperature ever recorded on the earth."
"Instead of allocating 10 percent of PSDP for water, the government has slashed PSDP's funds by 20 percent. The government allocated only Rs 38 billion of the federal budget for water without providing any details," she regretted. She also protested over low representation in the National Water Council from Sindh and Balochistan, saying it is quite unfortunate that two smaller provinces are being constantly ignored at an important platform which is headed by no other than the prime minister.
"The government needs to focus on water conservation through small interventions at the local level and stress on the importance of crop pattern change, bio-saline agriculture and water reuse practices," she contended. She also proposed to set up a water caucus immediately consisting member from the both Houses, adding, "It is not a matter for political point-scoring as we all need to come together to ensure that the next generation will have ample supply of water."