ISLAMABAD: After the US rolled out the red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday lamented that despite standing as a steadfast ally with the US following the events of 9/11, Pakistan’s struggle against terrorism had not received due acknowledgement by the US.
Speaking in the National Assembly, he said that Modi had been involved in supporting terrorist activities and human rights violations in Gujarat during his tenure as chief minister there and the United States acknowledged it by imposing visa restrictions on him.
He recalled that the US had distanced itself from Modi after the 2002 riots in Gujarat, which led to the killing of more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.
He said that the US officials had subsequently refused to meet Modi and in 2005, the country had denied him a visa after human rights groups had accused the Indian PM of not moving to halt the carnage. Referring to these events, the minister said: “It was acknowledged that terrorist activity happened there in Gujarat under Modi’s endorsement.”
He said that the same was currently under way against India’s minorities, and in occupied Kashmir, adding, “On the other hand, Pakistan had supported the US in two wars in Afghanistan for the last 40 years and was “part of a war that was never ours”.”
The minister said Pakistan was still paying the price for becoming part of the US-led war on terror and yet “there is no acknowledgement”, adding that the US-India joint statement was a “basis of dishonour” for the nation. “We sold our people to them and the result of that is the joint communiqué by President Biden and the Butcher of Gujarat in which they have accused Pakistan of terrorism.”
Asif further stressed that Pakistan should leverage its geographic location for its benefit instead of incurring losses because of it.
Moreover, he condemned India for its continued human rights violations in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, where an undeclared curfew had been imposed, and highlighted the imprisonment and hardships faced by Kashmiri leaders due to state-sponsored terrorism carried out by extremist Hindus.
The minister asserted that wars often served as commercial investments for powerful nations, noting the recurrence of this pattern in Europe. He called upon for stable foreign policies following the upcoming general elections, leveraging Pakistan’s strategically significant geographical location for its own benefit.
However, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah informed National Assembly that 82 deceased Pakistani victims had been recovered, with their specimens obtained and the ongoing identification process being conducted through Nadra. “Among these, the number of Pakistani passengers on board — as per the information that we have received so far — is approximately 350,” he added.
He added that 12 Pakistanis were among the total 104 people who had survived, adding, and “The number could escalate dramatically. It’s possible that it could exceed any other disaster or act of terror”.
He also warned that the toll in the incident may escalate dramatically. “The boat’s capacity was about 400 passengers, but there were around 700 onboard.”
The minister said that “so far in Pakistan, 281 families have contacted the government, expressing concern that their loved ones may have been caught up in this incident”.
He said so far, 193 DNA samples have been taken, adding “Desks have been established, and all the affected families have been contacted, with their DNA samples and other necessary information collected”. The minister added that once the identification process was completed, the bodies that were present would be brought back.
He said that approximately, 99 per cent of individuals who departed for Europe so far did so through “legal means.” However, upon reaching countries such as Egypt, the UAE, and Libya, they tend to opt for illegal routes.
He revealed that the prime minister had established a high-level committee to investigate the incident, highlighting that the committee was focused on three key areas to trace the individuals responsible.
He also pointed out existing loopholes in the laws, emphasising the scarcity of convictions in similar incidents over the past five years.
He expressed concern that even in cases where charges were filed, suspects often secured release on bail, while families entered settlements, resulting in an alarmingly low conviction rate.
The minister stated that amendments to the laws were under consideration to ensure that those involved in human trafficking and employing illicit means to send people abroad would face appropriate punishment.
He stated that the issue was being addressed with specific countries that had issued visas to individuals who were not relevant to the intended purpose, and who subsequently continued their journey through unauthorised routes.
“I assure the house that we will spare no efforts, and a comprehensive set of recommendations will be proposed by the probe committee, which the government will diligently implement,” he added.
However, Minister for Water Resources Khursheed Shah said: “we have to pay attention to power generation projects based on indigenous resources including hydel power, Thar coal and local gas”.
“At present, only 7,000MW hydel power is being generated out of a total 20,000 MW hydel potential”, he said, adding there is a need to pay special attention to hydel power generation projects by scrapping other development schemes for the time being.
He said that currently, over 2,600MW was being generated from Thar coal alone while the additional 1,000 MW would soon be added to the system shortly.
He said that the allegation of Rs100billion corruption was levelled against the then minister in 1995 in $5 billion LPG deal with France.
“The agreement was published in a newspaper and later the agreement was scrapped through suo moto notice,” he added.
He said that agreement remained in place and today, we would have not faced the prolonged load-shedding, adding the parliament should pass a resolution banning the generation of power from thermal and furnace oil.
“Power plants like Nandipur power plant, etc., remained closed,” he added.
He also urged the chair to set up a special investigation committee which could ascertain how much electricity was added to the system during 2008 to 2013.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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