Deputy Chairman Senate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, who was recently, escaped an assassination attempt, on Wednesday warned in Senate if Balochistan provincial government fails to take action against terrorists, election campaign in the province for next elections will not be possible.
Speaking for the first time in the House after recovering from a deadly suicide attack recently in Mastung, Haideri regretted the attitude of federal and provincial governments as well as Balochistan home minister in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. He expressed sheer disappointment over the provincial government's conduct following the carnage and said that to date; no information was available with regards to the happening. He particularly slammed the Balochistan chief minister and the home minister for being negligent and insensitive.
About the security situation in the province, he said that the son of ex-senator of their party, Heman Das was kidnapped for ransom and there has been no news about his well-being for about two weeks. "We reminded the Prime Minister twice to offer compensation to the families of the blast victims, but no such announcement has been made yet. Why this discrimination is while we stood with the state in the face of terrorist hits, who took arms against the state entities", the senator said.
"When you ask Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar (about the explosion), he says it is a provincial matter; when you approach the provincial government, they say it is a federal issue," he said. He made it clear that their movement would continue and that such attacks could not dampen their resolve. "But it is a matter of concern how the next election will be held in the province and how will we be able to convey our message to people," he wondered.
Haideri said they opposed taking up of arms against the military and the state when no other political party had the courage to do so. He added Maulana Fazlur Rehman himself survived three terrorist attacks. Upon his arrival in the House, Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani welcomed him on behalf of the senators and said he was lucky to survive and be present in the House again. He promised to him that the points he raised, would be taken up with the federal as well as provincial governments.
Earlier, Rabbani referred the alleged rise in occupation of land by the military and the air force in district Quetta, causing disharmony among people, to the House standing committee on defence for deliberations and asked it to report in 30 days. PKMAP's Senators Usman Kakar, Azam Musakhail and Gul Bashra had sought discussion in the House on the matter through an adjournment motion. But the chair said that the rules might hit it, therefore, dubbing it a very important matter, he referred it to the committee.
Senators Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Salahuddin Tirmizi made interesting jibe at each other in Senate as some called for setting up 'gym' inside the Parliament for lawmakers' physical fitness, while others stressed for mental growth instead of body building.
Taking part in budget debate Mushahid said that separate state-of-the-art gym should be set up inside the Parliament for physical exercise of both male and female MPs. This prompted Tirmzi to reject the fellow senators' proposal, saying Islamabad Club is enough for exercise if anyone is keen for body building or physical fitness, but what 'the general duty (GD) senators need is separate offices.'
"Instead of body building, there is a need of mental growth which can be possible if GD senators like me could be given separate offices so that we can work for the people who have sent us here to work for them," he declared. Senator Musahid also proposed to open up a separate TV channel for the Parliament through which all the proceedings of Parliament could be telecast live, adding it will help in countering the India propaganda against Pakistani democracy and will also strengthen the institution of Parliament.
He said that the idea of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to sign a charter of economy is a must, as there should be no politics on economy, education and health. "There should be a national consensus on these things...let there be a ceasefire on economy, health and education," he maintained.
He criticised the government for not imposing tax on cigarettes, saying by doing this, the government has given a 'license to kill', as tobacco companies are now free to sell their products without any hindrance as the budget proved a great relief to them.
Senator Tirmizi flayed the government of his own party for no allocation of funds to control population growth, saying it is main reason for majority of problems as there is no mechanism to limit the population growth.
Senator Mudassar Seher Kamran of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) attacked the Prime Minister throughout her speech, and kept repeating the sentence 'this government must go, go Nawaz go' after narrating the measures taken by the government in the budget about different departments especially militancy, power cuts, low allocation to NACTA, education and health, etc.
Senator Nisar Muhammad Khan of PML-N also criticised the budget and said the Planning Commission had no data about poverty in the country except the fugues provided by Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
"In this budget, the poverty was not even mentioned because the government has no data how many people are living below poverty line and what needs to be done for them," he regretted. Senators Salim Zia of PML-N and Giyan Chand of PPPP also spoke on the budget.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will brief the house today (Thursday) on Pakistan's joining the Saudi-led military alliance, as he could not brief the house due to his engagement in a meeting of national security on Wednesday.
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