In an unusual move, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, while presiding over the Senate session on Thursday, urged the government to "immediately send former prime minister Nawaz Sharif abroad for urgent medical treatment" and also to provide best medical treatment to former president Asif Ali Zardari.
"Politics should be avoided on this subject. Nawaz Sharif should be provided with best healthcare facilities and he should be immediately sent abroad," the chairman Senate said in what came as a surprise for the treasury benches since discussion on the former PM's health was not part of the agenda item of the Senate session.
As the house's proceedings started and the Senate was about to commence debate on worsening situation in the Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), Barrister Javed Abbasi from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) sought the chair's permission to "highlight an urgent matter of grave concern for the house."
The chairman allowed Abbasi to speak, who, in his speech, strongly criticized the government for seeking an indemnity bond from Sharif for allowing him to fly to London for medical treatment.
"We have some parliamentary and political traditions. The governments do not get personal against their rivals. This government is turning its political rivalry against the PML-N into personal animosity. A three-time former PM is not being allowed to travel abroad and instead, an indemnity bond is sought from him as pre-condition for the removal of his name from ECL (Exit Control List). This is unprecedented in Pakistan's history," he said and requested the chairman Senate to "raise his voice against this injustice" before Sanjrani asked the government to send Sharif abroad for medical treatment.
This also prompted Pakistan People Party's (PPP's) Parliamentary Leader Sherry Rehman to mention her party leader Asif Ali Zardari's ailment. "The doctors at PIM (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences) have said today that the former president is gravely ill and anything can happen to him."
The chairman Senate asked her to sit down so as to allow the house to take up the scheduled agenda items but the PPP senator defied the chair's instructions. "Mr. chairman you have allowed him (Abbasi) to speak about his leader's health. We also have a right to speak about our leader," she said before Sanjrani finally allowed her to continue.
"The federal government is responsible to provide him (Zardari) the best possible treatment. If anything happens, this government would be held responsible. They (treasury benches) are playing politics on such a serious issue. They are making fun of the ailments of opposition leaders. This government is on a witch-hunt mission of its political rivals," Rehman said.
After her speech, the chairman Senate, in his remarks, also asked the government "to make all the necessary arrangements for the provision of best medical treatment to Asif Ali Zardari."
The treasury benches including Leader of the House in Senate Shibli Faraz and Faisal Javed from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wanted to respond to the allegations leveled by Abbasi and Rehman but the chairman declined to give them the floor and announced to revert to the house's scheduled business. As the government senators insisted to speak, the chairman lost his cool. "Don't dictate me how to run the house. This has become a trend to influence the chair, in the course of Senate proceedings, on one pretext or another. You can't dictate me. This topic is closed for discussion. Let us get back to the house's regular business," Sanjrani told Javed in a reprimanding tone.
The chairman then gave the floor to PML-N's Pervaiz Rashid to share views on the situation in IoK. The senator criticized Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for not showing up at the Senate to brief the house about steps taken by the federal government to highlight the Kashmir issue and Indian forces' increasing atrocities on the public of the occupied valley.
"Mr chairman, you informed the house that the foreign minister is not available to brief the house since he is in Multan due to a death of a close family member. We believed that foreign minister is mourning the loss of a dear one. But, yesterday, I saw him giving interviews on television, all happy and smiling, not on Kashmir issue but on the health of Nawaz Sharif. If he has time for the TV interviews, he must be here to brief us on Kashmir."
Winding up debate on Kashmir, Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari dismissed opposition's criticism on the federal government regarding Kashmir. "For the first time in more than 50 years, the United Nations Security Council held a discussion on Kashmir issue. The American Congress, British Parliament, the European Union and other reputed forums of the world are seriously debating the Kashmir issue. How many times did it happen during the terms of the previous governments? The entire world is keeping a close eye on the developments in Kashmir. Previously, it was Pakistan accused of terrorism. Now, it's India that has been accused of state-sponsored terrorism in IoK. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, we have turned the tables on Narendra Modi and his Hindutva-inspired extremist government."
The Senate will meet again today (Friday) at 10:30am.
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