The National Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution, condemning the murder of two Pakistanis and proposed to the government to devise its policy afresh vis-à-vis Iraq.
The treasury and opposition jointly prepared the draft of the resolution, which was read out by PPPP's Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
Earlier, the opposition held government responsible for the gory murder of two Pakistanis in Iraq.
The government, giving in to the opposition demand, decided to hold a full debate in the House on the country's foreign policy with particular reference to Iraq on Friday.
After the sitting was adjourned, Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) decided to hold rallies across the country against the government's plan of sending troops to Iraq. Surprisingly, no Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leader was present during the news conference.
The resolution states: "This House expresses profound grief and shock over the murder of two Pakistanis and condemns it." It added the recent incidents, taking place in Iraq, caused immense anguish to the nation.
The resolution expressed full sympathy and solidarity with the bereaved families of Azad Hussain and Sajjad Naeem and proposed to the government to devise its Iraq policy afresh, keeping in view the emerging situation there.
"The policy should be reflective of the Pakistani nation's aspirations," it concluded.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Maulana Fazlur Rehman pointed out that the government policies on Iraq could not be overlooked in the murder of Pakistanis.
"It is a very serious matter. We should look into the reasons behind such tragic incidents. Why are these taking place?"
Fazl was of the view that there should be a full-fledged debate on the foreign policy.
To this, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said the government had no objection to holding debate in the House. The Chair said that the House would hold a debate on Friday for two hours.
PML-N MNA Sahibzada Fazal Karim asserted that after the tragic incident of killing, the rulers should review their decision, if they had already taken, to dispatch troops to Iraq.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi (PPPP), Rashid Akbar (PML), Rauf Mengal (BNP), Haider Abbas Rizvi, Maulana Merajuddin (MMA), Dr Sher Afgan Niazi (PPPP-Patriot) Bushra Rehman and Professor Mushtaq Victor from the treasury side also spoke on the occasion and condoled with the bereaved families.
Lager, speaking at a news conference in the Parliament's cafeteria, ARD and PTI leaders warned the government not to send troops to Iraq, saying, this will lead to further deterioration of security.
Imran Khan saw no difference between the interim Iraqi government and the Pakistani rulers and alleged that both were working for American interests.
Not even a single Pakistani, Imran claimed, would say 'yes' to sending troops to Iraq if the government hold a referendum on the matter.
Raja Ashraf was of the opinion that Islamabad must issue a categorical statement, saying 'no' to US demand for troops commitment.
"To save life of just one citizen, Philippines withdrew its forces from Iraq while we are planning to send ours despite the gory murder of Pakistanis," he lamented.
PML-N Saad Rafique cautioned that it would tantamount to making Pakistan army controversial, if the government pushed ahead with its apparent plan to send forces to the war-torn country.
He held the rulers equally responsible for the loss of two lives and said that the entire nation was opposed to contributing forces to Iraq.
Comments
Comments are closed.