ISLAMABAD: As the government spoke in the Natio­nal Assembly on Monday of “rays of hope” from the perceived national consensus on fighting terrorism, the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement turned its guns on the main opposition PPP, accusing its Sindh government of custodial killings of MQM followers in Karachi.

Minister of State for Inte­rior Mohammad Balig­hur Rehman painted an encouraging picture of strides so far made after the adoption of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism by a Jan 2 all-party conference convened by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the end of a debate on the Dec 16 terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.

But that unity of the parties which supported the 20-point NAP and later contributed decisively to the passage of a key constitution amendment by more than the required two-thirds majority suddenly seemed at risk as MQM parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar acc­used the Sindh government of forcing his party to the wall. He led slogan-chanting party lawmakers out of the house in a walkout at the fag-end of the day’s proceedings.

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Mr Sattar blamed a “free hand” given to police for the alleged five custodial killings of party followers in Karachi on Saturday, calling the affair as an attempt to defeat the Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment) Bill providing for speedy military courts trial of terrorism suspects. “The PPP wants to reintroduce the barbarity” of the mid-1990s when a PPP-led government launched an operation against the MQM, he said.

Not many PPP lawmakers were present in the nearly empty house at the time, but one of them, Mir Ejaz Jakhrani, defended the Sindh government, which he said was successfully carrying out an anti-crime crackdown jointly with the federal government and that no official found guilty of illegal actions in an inquiry already ordered by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah would be spared.

In his speech winding up the debate, Balighur Rehman said there were “many rays of hope” and the progress of efforts for national unity after the Peshawar attack and said this showed “we will overcome the monster of terrorism”.

Besides the adoption of the constitution amendment and another bill amending the Pakistan Army Act of 1952, he said the government was vigorously pursuing the other 19 points of the NAP ranging from the activisation of the National Counter Terrorism Authority to providing more financing, madrassah and curriculum reforms and zero tolerance for hate material.

In her speech earlier, PPP lawmaker Shazia Marri had complained that the government was saying little about the remaining 19 points of the NAP after the passage of the constitution amendment, which two religious parties – the government-allied Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F and the opposition Jamaat-i-Islami – had boycotted and urged the government to demonstrate seriousness on other issues as well.

The government-allied Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai called for a national repentance for harbouring terrorists like Osama bin Laden, adoption of a joint anti-terrorism strategy with Afghanistan, China and Iran, withdrawing troops from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and ensuring justice and democracy for the people of all provinces without which, he said, no war against terrorism could be won.

PARTLY RARE, PARTLY USUAL: Earlier the house saw what was partly unprecedented and partly usual when most of the question hour was deferred for later in the day due to the absence either of several members who had put the written questions or ministers supposed to reply to them, provoking a warning from Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan that he would report to the prime minister about absenting ministers.

“Either there is no member (who has put a question) or there is no minister (to give reply),” Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbai, who was chairing the house, remarked helplessly about the situation, asking for a “sense of the house” about what to be done.

While several unanswered questions related to the commerce ministry, the deputy speaker told the house he had received a message from Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir that he was caught in traffic while Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab told the house that disturbance of flights from Karachi had caused the absence of some PPP members from Sindh.

Chaudhry Nisar, who himself has been appearing in both houses of parliament only sparingly for some months, drawing occasional opposition protests, was on the offensive against his own cabinet colleagues.

Calling the situation “not only regrettable, but also serious”, he said it was also unprecedented that while a minister was absent there was no alternative minister to answer questions.

Anyone permitting this lapse “has no right to remain in the ministry,” the interior minister said amid some cheers from the PML-N’s benches. “It is no excuse that one is caught in traffic or in fog,” he added.

The commerce minister arrived in the house some time after the chair had deferred the question hour – just five minutes after the interior minister had left – and responded to questions that he was supposed to after the debate on the Peshawar attack, but without referring to his delay or Chaudhry Nisar’s warning.

FOUR PTI ANSENTEES NAMED: Shortly after the controversy about ministerial absenteeism, the deputy speaker named only four lawmakers of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf – about 40 of whose lawmakers have boycotted the National Assembly since August as part of a protest campaign – for remaining absent from the house for 40 days consecutively.

Such a long absence could cost the four members – Shafqat Mehmood, Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan, Ayesh Gulalai and Muazza Hssan – their seats in the house but that will require a resolution to be passed by the house.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2015

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