ISLAMABAD: The Balochistan government came under fire on Tuesday in the Senate over the last week killing of poor labourers in Turbat as well as for the security forces’ action resulting in the death of 13 suspected perpetrators of the attack.

Speaking on points of order, a number of senators from across the divide expressed their concern over incidents of the killing of settlers in Balochistan and some of them called for launching a full-fledged military operation against terrorists in the province.

Read: Security forces kill 13 militants behind labourers' massacre in Turbat

Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani allowed the debate on points of order sensing the gravity of the matter. The chairman also directed Minister of State for Interior Balighur Rehman to seek information from the provincial government and present a report before the house on Wednesday (today).

Speaking on a point of order, Senator Talha Mehmood of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) regretted that 20 poor labourers belonging to Punjab and Sindh were brutally gunned down and “not a single bullet was fired by security personnel deployed on the security duty”.

The JUI-F senator said the incident had taken place in the area from where Pakistan-China Economic Corridor would pass.

Shahbaz Durrani of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) objected to the use of term “angry Baloch” for those carrying out anti-state and terrorist activities in the province. “They should be called terrorists,” he went on saying, demanding an operation in Balochistan similar to the one launched after the Dec 16 attack by Taliban terrorists on an Army Public School in Peshawar.

Veteran PML-N Senator M. Hamza was critical of the action of the security personnel against suspects of the Turbat attack and termed it a “murder”. He was of the opinion that the accused should have been tried before a court of law.

Jahanzeb Jamaldini of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) said there seemed to be no government in the province. “Such incidents are taking place frequently. Why is the government not protecting the people?” he asked.

The BNP-M senator also opposed the idea of killing suspects in encounters, saying “it is not the job of the state to take revenge”.

“Why the demand for autonomy has been changed to the demand for independence in Balochistan? Think over it,” he said. He also asked the Senate to issue a warning to the Balochistan government and asked it to take steps for the protection of the people.

The only defence for the Balochistan government came from Senator Mir Kabir of the National Party (NP), which is the ruling party in the province. He termed the criticism on the provincial government uncalled for, saying that the government had done its duty by deploying security personnel in Turbat. “What is the fault of the provincial government, if they (security personnel) did not offer any resistance?” he said. He said all the security personnel had already been arrested.

Senator Kabir claimed improvement in law and order situation in the province over the past two years.

Farhatullah Babar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) said that it was a fact that people were being picked up in the province and then they went missing. He called for a parliamentary oversight of the intelligence agencies through legislation.

Mr Babar also informed the house as to how the intelligence agencies personnel recently stopped a university in Lahore from organising a seminar on Balochistan.

Earlier, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani asked the government to carry out legislation through parliament, instead of ordinances.

The chairman passed these comments after Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Aftab Sheikh presented five ordinances to the house.

The ordinances laid before the Senate are the Safeguard Measures (Amendment) Ordinance 2015; the Countervailing Duties Ordinance 2015; the Anti-Dumping Duties Ordinance 2015; the National Tariff Commission Ordinance 2015; and the General Elections 2013 Inquiry Commission Ordinance 2015.

Speaking on a point of order, PPP’s Saeed Ghani claimed that the government was planning to shift the headquarters of Civil Aviation Authority and PIA from Karachi to another province. He called for taking up such matters at the forum of the Council of Common Interests (CII).

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Pirzada presented the annual report of the CCI for the year 2012-13 before the house. The chairman said that the house would debate the CCI report from Wednesday. This is perhaps for the first time in the parliament’s history that the CCI’s report would come under discussion in any of the two houses of the parliament.

Replying to a Calling Attention Notice of ANP’s Sitara Ayaz regarding blockage of CNICs of the people belonging to the KP by Nadra, State Minister for Interior Balighur Rehman declared that no discrimination was being carried out with any citizen of the country in renewal of computerised national identity cards (CNICs).

The minister said no CNIC had been blocked on ethnic background, adding that Nadra had blocked even CNICs in Punjab, Balochistan and others areas of the country for verification.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2015

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