Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani on Friday asked the government to collect details about profiling of Pakhtuns in Punjab from the provincial government and share it with the House on Monday, as senators expressed deep concern over the issue. The opening sitting of the 260th session was apparently adjourned before time by Chairman Senate in view of the government's lack of interest in running the House and absence of ministers.
Leader of the House Raja Zafar ul Haq also agreed with the chair and Leader of Opposition Aetizaz Ahsan, who also cautioned against selective application of any law. "Any issue, which may push division in the nation, should be timely shared so that no misunderstanding could arise," said Zafar.
The chair agreed with Senator Usman Kakar of PkMAP that the operation Raddul Fassad was launched by the federal government but insisted that the step against Pakhtuns was started by the government of Punjab; therefore, the notice filed by 7 senators did not constitute an adjournment motion as such.
He said if a precedent is set on a provincial issue, this would set a trend and provincial matters would come up in the House this way. Rabbani asked Raja Zafar to ensure either the federal interior minister or state minister for interior come to the Senate on Monday and share related details after obtaining data from the provincial government.
Senators Nisar Muhammad, Baz Muhammad Khan, Shahi Syed, Ilyas Bilour, Muhammad Daud Achakzai, Usman Kakar and Sardar Azam Musakhail had filed a notice for an adjournment motion for discussion on the actions taken by the government of Punjab and provincial police against Pakhtun community on the pretext of crackdown on terrorists.
The leader of the opposition fully supported the chair and emphasised that matter is extremely important, as Pakhtuns living in Punjab or doing business there are being seen with apprehension. He called for desisting from giving any such impression and recalled that earlier the issue of CNIC of Pakhtuns was raised.
He called for uniform application of the law without any discrimination whatsoever and insisted Pakhtuns are patriotic like other Pakistanis and if there is evidence against anyone, which could be against Punjabi or any other Pakistani, it should be produced and the law be applied. The chair did not allow PTI Senator Muhammad Azam Swati to table a resolution which the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has recently been adopted with regards to Pakhtuns in Punjab.
Rabbani advised Senator Mian Muhammad Ateeq Sheikh to wait for the investigation report into the Pakistan Super League vis-a-vis alleged corruption issue and withdraw his notice for an adjournment motion, seeking discussion in the House on the causes and consequences of corruption scandals in Pakistan cricket, especially with respect to PSL.
The chair advised him to opt for any other parliamentary instrument also. The senator decried, what he called, conspiracies are being hatched to stigmatise Pakistani cricket and players and bar world cricket from coming to Pakistan. The minister concerned was not available when the chair allowed Senator Saleem Mandviwalla to move a calling attention notice about blocking of CNICs of Pakistani nationals belong to FATA, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The House was informed that the state minister for interior was abroad while federal minister was in the Prime Minister House for a meeting called by the Prime Minister. "But this is Parliament and indeed the issue is very important," Rabbani remarked. However, he called for fixing the notice for Monday.
Mandviwalla said that already his committee was deliberating upon the issue of census while the profiling of Pakhtuns in Punjab is quite disturbing and so is the methodology of doing it. He said the committee was told that so far 130 million CNICs were issued by NADRA whereas presently it was probing into one million CNICs. "What does the government want to do by resisting the NADRA's move of verification of CNICs, as the army has already confirmed it," the PPPP senator wondered.
By the time Senator Sehar Kamran was on her feet to draw attention of the Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) through a calling attention notice, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmad had left the House. "Where is the minister who has the brief on the notice?" asked the chair. The chair said the notice was related to the CADD and the minister concerned was in Pakistan and added, "Enough is enough. The government is not serious in running the House." He then adjourned the House till Monday afternoon.