A PTI legislator on Tuesday challenged the demands seeking all-out military operation against Taliban, saying the government should uproot terrorism indiscriminately and also take action against the groups that are involved in killings in Karachi. "Taliban are there for the last few years but terrorism has been an old issue," said Khuram Sher Zaman while giving his views about a resolution tabled by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) with the signatures of all representing parties.
Zaman was of the view that Taliban should not be singled out for terrorism in the country. He, however, voted in support of the resolution that the house passed unanimously. He said the Sindh province was badly affected by terrorism and killings. "Karachi is suffering from targeted killings and members of political parties are being shot dead regularly, which the government should also consider as an act of terrorism and take action to stem the menace," he added.
The resolution sought unanimity among political parties on elimination of those groups which were supporting Taliban and proposed a sledgehammer action against the terrorists. The resolution also paid tributes and showed solidarity with the armed forces fighting the militants in the tribal areas of the country. Taking part in the debate, MQM's leader of the opposition, Faisal Sabzwari, said the nation should show its collective wisdom to handle the growing Talibanisation in the country and its serious implications. "Terrorists are in minority. Action against them should be taken," he demanded.
He said that the government should not delay action against Taliban and act early to restore peace in the country. "It is now or never," he asserted, fearing a so-called consensus was unlikely to tame militants and establish peace. Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said the terrorists had not spared religious and worship places, police, rangers, armed forces, schools and politicians from their terror acts.
He said that the country's political and social systems would be decided by its 180 million inhabitants and not by a handful of Taliban. "Taliban cannot be called human for their barbarianism," he said, urging the nation to cast off its fear and muster confidence to voice against the menace of terrorism. PML-N's parliamentary leader Irfanullah Khan Marwat said the federal government made an attempt to pacify Taliban through peaceful means with an offer of talks but in vain. He asked Taliban to announce a unilateral cease-fire and surrender to the government or face an all-out military operation. Another resolution, which Sindh Senior Education Minister Nisar Khuhro, had tabled asking the federal government to end power cuts in Larkana, was also passed unanimously.
"This Assembly resolves and recommends to the government of Sindh to approach the federal government to stop unannounced loadshedding of 14-20 hours in the province especially in Larkana," states the resolution. Khuhro said the federal government despite paying Rs 500 billion to retire circular debts under the power tariffs heads, could not end the electricity loadshedding in the country.
He said the rice and wheat farmers were suffering from power shortages, while mills of the seasonal crops were facing problems to carry out their operations. He said the federal government's claim of increase in power generation seemed an eyewash, as the province was bearing long hours of power outages. He warned the government that it would lose local production in the wake of power shortage that could lead to huge loss to the country's foreign exchange.
"Allegations against the Larkana people for power theft should stop. Bills are always inflated against low electricity consumption," he said, warning that the provincial government was deliberately avoiding confrontation with the federal government. Replying to Khuhro's speech, Marwat avoided defending his party's government in the centre, saying loadshedding should be carried out uniformly across the country.
He vowed to support Sindh province's interest and rights and said the electricity loadshedding had largely increased in the wake of halt to gas supply because of damages to pipelines. He said the federal government through a better management could reduce the hours of power cuts. He said Sindh was still producing more of gas as compared to other provinces and demanded of the federal government to end gas and power loadshedding in the province.
MQM's Khalid Ahmed criticised K-Electric for passing on the impact of power thefts to loyal consumers. He said the company was technically transferring its losses to other consumers. Without naming anyone, he said calling people as electricity thieves would create problems for the politicians in the next elections.
MQM's Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan said the government should waive duty from import of solar power generating technology with a view to producing electricity through alternative means. During a question and answer session, Sindh Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro told the house that the Sindh's share in funds of Employs Old Age Benefit Institute (EOBI) stood at 43 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed.