The opposition on Friday proposed formation of a house committee to monitor utilisation of foreign and local financial assistance for the earthquake victims.
Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who for the first time came to the assembly after the natural disaster, spoke against what he called the military's increased involvement in civilian matters. He laid emphasis on restoration of true democracy and the civilian rule.
Expressing reservations on behalf of the opposition parties, Qazi contended it was not the domain of an individual to 'seize control of everything'. Instead the house should form a body to put in place a check and balance mechanism on funds being collected for quake victims.
"How the funds being collected at home and the foreign aid are to be spent should be monitored by some honest people. There must be a transparent mechanism in this connection. No controversial institution be involved in it," he asserted.
He questioned the logic behind the recent special meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) to discuss post-quake relief activities, saying it is the domain of the parliament and not of the NSC.
The MMA leader said masses felt insecure during martial laws, therefore, to restore their confidence, a way must be paved for the civilian dispensation.
Indirectly criticising President General Pervez Musharraf, Qazi said an individual had seized control of all institutions and running them contrary to the national solidarity and integrity.
He claimed over 3,000 military personnel had died when the quake hit Kashmir, but the top-brass was not aware of it for quire some time.
The MMA leader vehemently rejected foreign media reports that al Qaeda might strike under the cover of relief work, saying it is the Zionists conspiracy to impede relief operations.
Qazi, who visited quake-hit areas in NWFP and Kashmir, pointed out there was a lack of co-ordination between the army, civilian set-up and volunteers, leading to chaotic scenes.
He flayed the government for not preparing a complete database about the quake victims: those who had died so far, separated or orphaned children.
The top-most priority after provision of medical care, he said, should be to make arrangements for the education of children of affected areas.
The MMA leader said mountainous areas were now in the grip of severe cold and snowfall, which would further compound difficulties of the victims in coming days, therefore, tents and blankets must be made available to them as early as possible.
Responding to some of his points, education minister Javed Ashraf Qazi, who also served as the head of the Inter Services Intelligence, contended some parts of the MMA leader's speech were based on misinformation.
"There is co-ordination between the army, civil administration and volunteers and there is no objection to volunteers going to some areas that had not been visited so far," he said.
However, he added the army had the advantage of having knowledge about the terrain, as many personnel had been deployed there for quite some time.
The minister apprised the house of the army and other institutions' activities to restore road links and rebuild the infrastructure.
He revealed ten teams, having representation from the education ministry, provincial governments, Unicef and NGOs had been dispatched to affected areas to assess the scale of damage of educational institutions; how many students had died; how many students survived, so that arrangements might be made for their education, even in tents. The teams will submit their report within five days.
The education minister agreed with the MMA leader that in the first few hours it was difficult to assess the scale of losses incurred by the army deployed in Kashmir.
Besides, two brigade commanders, 11 other senior officers had died when the quake struck. Initially, assessment could not be made, as with the collapse of barracks and bunkers, communications also remained non-functional for some hours, he conceded.
Leaving aside their dead, the army men participated in rescue and relief operations. "Over 400 died while 770 are injured and many bodies are yet to be pulled out from the rubble."
Health minister M. Naseer Khan denied reports that epidemics had broken out in some areas, saying immunisation to ward off tetanus and measles was under way in affected localities.
The health ministry, he added, had on its disposal 0.25 million injections and it faced no shortage of medicines as such. He made it clear that the government would not allow orphaned or separated children being given to some other country. The minister said the government was facing a very difficult challenge of rehabilitation of thousands of traumatised children.
Likewise, the government was in contact with the United States and Australia for acquiring artificial limbs for scores of men, women and children, who had to undergo amputations.
"We are all one and united at this critical juncture. We are Muslims first and then Pakistanis," he contended.
As the house resumed business 40 minutes late, Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan, MMA leader Liaquat Baloch and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of PPPP assailed the government for holding just three sittings in a week and paying members for full week.
They charged this practice was okay for a special situation, but the government had made a tradition to misuse this relaxation given in the Constitution.
They alleged it showed the government was not serious in running the assembly. It simply wanted to fulfil the requirement of 130 days sitting in a parliamentary year with no serious business on the agenda.
Aitzaz Ahsan announced not to take salary for the days the house would not hold a sitting, saying this was a sheer injustice to the parliament and the public exchequer.
"Is there a conspiracy behind such practice to undermine the parliament," Raja Pervaiz asked.
Parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi dismissed the opposition's objections as uncalled for and advised them to hold a news conference in future on such issues instead of wasting precious time.
He made it clear there was nothing wrong in holding sitting for three days, as members wanted to do something for the quake victims.
PPPP's Naheed Khan objected to a resolution passed by the house, asking all members to select one quake-hit area for relief and rehabilitation and collect funds for this purpose. PML MNA Mehnaz Rafi moved the resolution.
Qari Mohammad Yousaf of MMA, law minister Wasi Zafar, Dr Azra Fazal (PPPP), Hafiz Hussain Ahmed (MMA), Shahida Akhtar (MMA), Safdar Shakir (PML) and Maulana Noor of MMA also spoke.
Balochistan National Party MNA Rauf Mengal drew the attention of the house toward a mortar attack on the residence of his party chief and head of Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement Attaullah Khan Mengal.
He alleged Balochistan chief minister Jam Mohammad Yousaf and state minister for petroleum Naseer Mengal were behind the attack. He also criticised the way local employees were being treated at the Gwadar port.
Interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao assured the member that he had sought a detailed report on the matter and would take necessary action after examining it. He said the government wanted to promote the environment of political understanding.
The house will now meet on Monday at 11am, as no date has been fixed for conclusion of the ongoing debate on the post-earthquake situation in NWFP and Azad Kashmir.
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