The government came under severe criticism in Senate Monday over deteriorating law and order situation in the country, especially Karachi. The MPs said any untoward incident during Muharram will further expose the government grip on security in the country. Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q), who is also chairman of Senate standing committee on defence and defence production, termed the current killing frenzy in Karachi a man-made problem.
"This lawlessness issue which has engulfed the whole country is an artificial problem, which has been allowed to grow...criminals are being freed [and] if this practice is not stopped, it will affect the future of the country," he added. He called upon all the political parties to think above party line and resolve the issue on war-footing. "Ethnic cleansing is going on in Karachi and Balochistan, which must not be allowed or it will pave way for civil war in the country," he warned.
He appreciated the role of judiciary, saying the Supreme Court did what the government failed to do. This was the job of the state, which it ignored as a result the apex court had to swing into action, he added. "Some people termed it judicial activism, but this a wrong. We have to give credit to the judiciary for whatever it has done regarding killing in Karachi and Balochistan...all the people can not remain silent over whatever was going on in the country," he added.
He made it clear that the time has come for all the political parties to wake up from the deep slumber and take concrete measures to resolve the growing militancy and terrorism. "Just swing into action, take the judiciary and the army along and I'm sure we can resolve this problem," he added. He warned that if the militant wings of political parties - believed to be behind the unrest, target killings, kidnapping for ransom, extortion - if not eliminated, peace can not be restored.
Regional proxy war in the country, Mushahid added, is the cause of all evils, and if went unnoticed, it will take the country to the point of no return. This is a dagger which is hitting the Muslim world and the government has no will to counter it...let's strike and or it will be too late," he maintained.
Shahi Syed of Awami National Party (ANP) strongly protested over government failure to take any severe action against criminal gangs involved in Karachi unrest. He said that the ratio of Taliban militants in Karachi is 5 percent while criminals control 95 percent of Karachi, he said, adding that the interior minister acts as he knows nothing.
"My dear interior minister Rehman Malik comes to Karachi, suspends traffic DSP and takes flight back to Islamabad...this is what he is doing. This is not acceptable and I'm gona walk out against this strange attitude," he walked out of Senate along with other ANP senators. Senator Babar Awan criticised the Supreme Court in his unique style without directly mentioning the apex court. He said that nobody has the guts to take up May 12 incident, which claimed innocent lives on the visit of a government official.
"We are fast losing grip on Karachi...forget political expediency for a moment. Look at Balochistan, it's becoming a stateless society [God forbid] it seems as it's not part of Pakistan," he lamented. Referring to the interim order of apex court on Balochistan, he warned the government to come out of self-denial. "I'm afraid that the interim-order of Supreme Court is a complete indictment against some State institutions as it is based on concrete evidence, which must not be taken lightly," he added. About Balochistan situation, Awan put all the blame on the government, saying it is in the state of self-denial. "The top Baloch leaders, living in exile went back empty handed when nobody paid any heed to them." He flayed his party leadership for not paying attention to recent visit of Akhtar Mengal to Pakistan.
Senators Talha Mehmood, Kulsoom Parveen, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Abdul Haseeb Khan also spoke on the motion over deteriorating law and order situation in the country with particular reference to Karachi, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. The House was adjourned to meet again on Tuesday at 4pm.
Comments
Comments are closed.