Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production on Wednesday demanded that Abbottabad Commission Report along with note of dissent by the commission members should be made public. Chairman committee Mushahid Hussain Syed, while talking to media person after chairing the committee's meeting, said the committee unanimously recommended that complete version of the report having 40 pages note of dissent written by Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, member of the Abbottabad Commission should be released to general public.
The committee also asked the government to urgently consider ways and means to act upon the recommendation of the commission report to create an environment in which several domestic and international challenges confronting the country could be dealt effectively, he said.
It was also proposed that Senate Defence Commission would convene a public hearing on the issue of intelligence co-ordination and reforms after Eid-ul-Fitr, Mushahid Hussain Syed maintained. During the meeting, the committee was informed that leaked version of Abbottabad Commission report was an earlier draft that had been prepared by the commission through a bizarre internal arrangement under which several versions were to be produced by the members with the hope of reconciling them into a final report in the end.
The Committee also stated that in the context of Abbottabad Commission report, there should not be any blame game targeting individuals or institutions rather, the endeavour should be to examine the causes of what the Commission has called was a "collective failure" and to ensure that wrongs are reversed so that such failures do not recur.
On the suggestion of Senator Sehar Kamran, the Senate Committee on Defence & Defence Production passed a resolution lauding the role of female paratroopers in the Pakistan armed forces and termed this as a "positive step forward in promoting gender equality within the armed forces and good for nation building, since women will now be playing an active role, shoulder to shoulder, with the men in defending their motherland". The Committee expressed its concern over the induction of a controversial individual as the Head of the newly created Aviation Division as the person's credentials as a citizen of Pakistan have been questioned by forum like the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The Committee also expressed its concern over allegations of a conflict of interest involved in creating the Aviation Division after its separation from the Ministry of Defence, recommended that concern will be addressed through the Ministry of Defence and conveyed to the Prime Minister as the PM also holds portfolio of the Defence Minister.
The committee was also briefed about its work plan for next six months which include: Public Hearing on Intelligence reform and reorganisation and presentation of bill on cyber security in August 2013, visit to Kabul on September 10-11, sponsored by Pildat, policy seminar on nuclear weapons and foreign policy will be held on October 24, at PIPS, review of national security policy of government and policy seminar on civil-military relations will be held during November 2013, policy seminar on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nato/US withdrawal will be held in December 2013, visit to Germany and EU/Nato headquarters in Brussels sponsored in January 2014.
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