Senator Raza Rabbani has stressed the need for convening the meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to resolve the widening conflict over water between Sindh and Punjab. He was speaking on a point of order in the Upper House of the Parliament during its session held here on Friday with Chairman Senate Farooq H Naek in the chair.
Rabbani said that the two provinces are at loggerheads with each other over water issue and it is the prime responsibility of the federation to come forward to resolve this issue for the sake of the country.
Raza Rabbani expressed concern over heightening tension between two provinces saying that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani should convene the meeting of the CCI and take the chief ministers of the provinces on board to settle the things amicably.
The CCI was formed under the article 153 of the Constitution and under section 155 of the Constitution it has to take up the water issue of Sindh and Punjab, he added. He said that the meeting, held under Indus River System Authority (Irsa), has failed to make headway in the matter as Punjab staged walkout from the meeting.
He called upon the leader of the House in Senate to raise the matter with Prime Minister Gilani for using his influence to resolve this issue between the two provinces. During the debate on law and order situation, the opposition pointed out the absence of the ministers saying that absence of the ministers from the House speaks volumes regarding the seriousness of the government in resolving problems.
Chairman Senate Farooq H Naek expressed dismay over absence of the ministers from the Senate. The House is discussing the law and order situation prevailing in the country, but no one from the Ministry of Interior has bothered to attend the session, he said.
He asked the leader of the House to make sure the presence of the ministers in the House to respond to the questions of the members. Taking part in the debate over law and order situation Senator Professor Khursheed Ahmed of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) said that injustice to people has caused deterioration of the law and order situation in the country.
Issue of missing persons is a serious problem and the fate of missing persons is still a question mark. Arrest or kidnap of any innocent person is a great human tragedy and until he is released no guarantee of improvement in law and order can be given, he added.
The government has announced a special package 'Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan' but still missing persons from Balochistan have not reached their homes, he said, adding that this is a big question mark on the government efforts. He said that the tall claim made by Interior Minister regarding the end of terrorism proved false and the government should inform the nation as to how they are dealing with the menace of terrorism.
"Interior Minister had claimed that the government has broken the back of the terrorists, which type of back was broken as terrorists have spread their wings all over the country", he questioned. He said that the main reason behind worsening law and order situation is inefficiency of police.
Political appointments in police have made this important institution a question mark in the country, he said. He said that lack of proper training and outdated weapons and other equipment have made police department inefficient.
Judiciary, investigation and prosecution are three pillars of a country on which judicial system is based, Professor Khursheed said that during the last ten years only 10 percent of the accused were awarded punishment by the courts, which means remaining 90 percent were innocent or that the judicial system is inefficient.
Taking part in the debate on law and order situation Dr Khalid Soomro of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) demanded that the government should constitute a judicial commission to probe into the killings in Karachi since 1986 and people found guilty should be given exemplary punishment.
"This is the only way to address the prevailing law and order problems and root out the menace of terrorism", he added. He also demanded operation clean up in Karachi to take back/collect both licensed and unlicensed arms from everyone. "Weapons in Karachi are more than Wana and Waziristan and if these weapons were not taken in control it will cause a huge dent in the country", he maintained.
He termed the injustice as main cause of worsening law and order situation saying that during Musharraf's era Rs 252 billion funds were given to Karachi only while just Rs 28 billion were given to the remaining 22 districts of the province. This has created a deep sense of deprivation among the people of Sindh.
Disparity in the salary structure of police in different provinces is also a reason behind the inefficiency of police, as a constable is getting Rs 5,000 in Sindh, in Balochistan he is getting Rs 6,000, in NWFP he is getting Rs 11,000 while in Punjab Rs 15,000, Khalid Soomro said. He added that there is dire need to make a uniform pay structure for police across the country, besides providing them training and equipment on modern lines.
Abdul Nabi Bangash of Awami National Party (ANP) termed the target killing in Karachi as ethnic cleansing of Pushtoons saying that only Pushtoons and Balochis are being targeted in Karachi. He said that NWFP is frontline province in war against terrorism. "We are fighting against Taliban and sacrificing our lives for the sake of Pakistan while in Sindh we are being labelled as Taliban", he added.
Earlier, leader of the House Nayyer Bokhari laid five Ordinances before the House. These included, The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Ordinance, 2009 (XLVIII of 2009), The Trade Organisations Ordinance, 2009 (XLIX of 2009), The National Command Authority Ordinance, 2009 (L of 2009), The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan Ordinance, 2009 (LI of 2009) and The Pakistan Army (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009 (LII of 2009).