ISLAMABAD: In a startling revelation, the opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan on Thursday said that the government has given two airbases to the US.

Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, Ayub demanded the government to clarify whether the airbases were given to the US by the incumbent government or the previous caretaker set up.

“This is quite worrisome and the government must brief the house as who took the decision to give airbases [to the US]”, he maintained.

There are reports that the incumbent government has handed over two airbases in Balochistan near the borders of Afghanistan and Iran to the United States.

At the onset of the proceedings, the opposition leader severely criticised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for donning a police uniform at a parade in Lahore, saying strict action should be taken against her.

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He said that there was a time when school children used to don police or military uniforms – to show their love for the armed forces – but “what we got today in this country that a chief minister is donning police uniform which is a joke.”

“These kinds of jokes must stop forthwith, as it’s like making fun of the country before the whole world,” he regretted.

Ayub also came down hard on the government for not ensuring the presence of government officials belonging to different ministries to take notes, adding neither the bureaucracy nor the government is giving any importance to the proceedings of the house.

He said that the foreign funds which were supposed to be given to the country were neither given to the government nor any foreign country is ready to help it economically.

“This government could not float bonds, which will result in borrowing from the domestic market which is tantamount to printing notes which will further skyrocket the inflation,” he lamented.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting AttaullahTarar said that the government is taking all possible measures to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.

Responding to a calling attention notice moved by Nikhat Shakeel Khan and others, he said that the National Action Plan (NAP) is being reviewed, while maximum facilitation is being extended to the provincial governments to combat the menace.

Tarar said that the government is also focusing on intelligence-based operations (IBOs) to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the soil.

The minister also said that the federal government is also extending full support to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for the capacity building of the provincial Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

He also said that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has assured Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to install a safe city network in Karachi to fight crimes and terrorism.

Responding to another calling attention notice moved by the opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, Tarar said that the name of an individual is placed on the Exit Control List (ECL), Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) or Stop List on the request of the investigation agencies after following due procedure.

The minister said that no one is placed on these lists for being a member of the parliament.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024