FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

The Senate met Monday evening resumed the debate on Bajaur and Dargai events, but only after a couple of interesting bouts the parliamentary affairs minister, Sher Afgan, had with the opposition members. Single-handedly he fought on each and every point of order or adjournment motion with whatever he had in his arsenal.
Given that the presiding officer, deputy chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali, kept the proceedings alive by butting in off and on, the house had quite a few light-hearted moments, although the very opening was dramatic, if not momentous.
As soon as recitation of Holy Quran was over, the chair gave the floor to Rahmatullah Kakar. On a point of order, he said that during the recent visit of British Prime Minister Tony Blaire to Faisal Masjid, the mosque management cancelled both 'Azan' and prayer for 'Asar'.
"This is something that has happened in the subcontinent after 150 years," he said, probably comparing this incident with the closing of mosques by British government after arresting the last Mogul emperor Bahadar Shah Zafar in 1857. Sher Afgan stood up to say something, but Jamali interrupted him, observing that "there should be an explanation to this incident...This is not the time of Ranjit Singh. Pakistan is an Islamic state".
That said, the house consented to laying a couple of reports by Dr Khalid Ranjha, who is chairman of senate committee on law, justice and human rights, after condoning delay in their presentation.
That was followed by a spate of points of order about alleged disappearance of opposition activists, denial of development funds to opposition and non-availability of subsidised electricity to farmers in Balochistan. A member also claimed that the Mirani dam, inaugurated early this month by President Musharraf, was being constructed to supply water for potential "colonisation" of Gwadar. Put together, these points of order depicted a chaotic situation in the country against the rosy pictures being painted by the government. That was unacceptable to Sher Afgan. These points of order were being accommodated in violation of the rules that govern the functioning of the Senate, he claimed, adding, that "abuse of rules is a criminal offence".
But the rebuke came from no one but from own his side. Whatever the minister said is "what we have been hearing since the very beginning of the this house. Either don't refer to them or enforce them. In fact, we should have the zero hour," opined Khalid Ranjha.
The central piece of the day's sitting was Rukhsana Zuberi's adjournment motion about oil prices. Sher Afgan opposed discussion on it, arguing that the matter was sub judice as it was before the Supreme Court. But the chair asked the mover to speak on the admissibility of the motion. As she was building up her argument the minister once again interrupted, this time insisting that the motion could not be entertained as it did not meet the conditions that should be met to admit discussion on an adjournment motion.
Khurshid Ahmad, Sadia Abbasi and Latif Khosa also pleaded admissibility, with the latter making an interesting legal point. Khosa observed that the apex court had taken suo motu notice of the oil prices, something that the government should have done. "Why should we abdicate our responsibility. This is our issue. It affects the life of every Pakistani."
Sher Afgan now gave the discussion another twist, asserting that the members were trying to belittle the apex court. Before more was said, the chair precluded discussion by overruling the adjournment motion.
Then, it was Khurshid Ahmad, on a point of order, who pointed out that according to a newspaper report the family of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan had rejected the ISPR statement on his health.
He said that, given the new dimension the nuclear situation in the region has acquired in the light of US-India nuclear technology agreement, the country needed Dr Khan all the more. He proposed that a delegation of the Senate, representing members from both sides of the aisle should visit Dr Khan to know the truth in the matter. But Sher Afgan insisted that best possible medical assistance was being provided to Dr Khan and he was better.
As for the MMA member's claim that Iranian government had denied AQ Khan's hand in proliferation, the minister thought such a discussion would bring Pakistan's nuclear programme once again under the negative international focus.
Sher Afgan's single-handed fight did not end there. Now Dr Khalid Soomro was on his feet stating, on a point of order, that since November 21 all beard-keeping crewmembers of PIA, minus the pilots, have been sent on three-month forced leave.
According to him, they were told that they could return to their jobs only with shaven faces, otherwise their services would stand terminated. Sher Afgan rejected Soomro's claim, saying that one could concede that such a ban was imposed on the pilots, but not on the crew, because these were the "pilots who dashed their planes into Twin Towers". "Perturbed" over this report the deputy chairman observed that let the defence minister come to the house on Tuesday and enlighten members about this development.
The debate on Bajaur started quite late. The first speaker was Rahmatullah Kakar who said nothing new except quoting a news report, which cited a Pakistani official in UK having said that the bombing at Bajaur seminar was the work of the US. Others who participated in the debate included Abdur Rahim Mandokhel, Sadia Abbasi, Muhammad Hussain, Ibrahim and Latif Khosa.
The house was then adjourned to meet on Tuesday morning.