ISLAMABAD: Denying the possibility of a military operation in Balochistan, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reiterated to “sort out” those elements in the province who do not accept the state, dubbing them as terrorists.
“No military operation is taking place in Balochistan,” the minister said in the Senate session, chaired by Irfan Siddiqui, on Friday.
His comments came in response to Jan Muhammad Jamali’s statement in which he expressed concern over possible launch of a military operation in Balochistan.
PM Shehbaz arrives in Quetta to review security situation in Balochistan
“If you launch operation, then none of the political parties that are with you today would be with you,” Jamali from National Party (NP) said, speaking on the floor of the house.
The interior minister replied, “Those who accept the state, we will hold them in highest esteem, they are very respectable to us. They may have differences, we are trying to address them— and those who do not accept the state, we consider them terrorists— we would sort them out— there should be clarity about it.”
Regarding the concern raised by Kamran Murtaza from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) about the functioning of Apex Committee, Naqvi said the Apex Committee is tasked to coordinate with the provinces and with the Centre. “But parliament is supreme; there should be no doubt about it.”
The minister said August 26 Musakhel terrorist incident is “not a normal happening; it was done with proper planning by more than one terrorist organisations.” The terrorist attack is part of the plan to sabotage the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) moot that Pakistan is hosting this October, he said.
The minister said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was in Quetta on Thursday where he met the stakeholders. He said five billion rupees have been allocated for Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Balochistan.
Balochistan is faced with shortage of officers, and 30 to 40 officers from the Centre are ready to join their duties in Balochistan in the coming days, Naqvi said, adding that he visited Balochistan twice in the recent days.
Naqvi left the Senate hall immediately after his speech on the pretext of attending an “important” official meeting.
Taking the floor, Leader of the Opposition in Senate Shibli Faraz said, the minister should have clarified his recent remarks that “only an SHO (station house officer) is enough to deal with terrorism, effectively” in Balochistan.
Referring to this statement, Faraz said, “May be these words of wisdom are beyond our comprehension.”
“Those who challenge the writ of the state should be dealt with strictly— but who would decide who is a Pakistani and who is not,” the opposition leader said.
He said the real stakeholders in Balochistan should be taken in the loop to address the issues of the province “instead of distributing Rs 5 billion to this— Rs 10 billion to that—sending bureaucrats to Balochistan is no solution at all.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024