ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: The Senate on Friday witnessed some stormy scenes when opposition and treasury members exchanged hot words during debates on the issues of the National Finance Commission Award, ‘forced retrenchment’ of PIA employees and alleged rigging in the local body elections.

It all started when Balochistan National Party Senator Sanaullah Baloch, in a hard hitting speech, criticized the government for failing to finalize the NFC award and, ‘thus causing a sense of deprivation among smaller provinces, particularly Balochistan.’

He said: “Gen Musharraf has failed to settle the dispute over the NFC award among four provinces of the country but talks about settlement of the Kashmir and Palestinian disputes.”

Mr Baloch said that despite the fact Baloch nationalists had reservations over the 1973 Constitution, they were demanding its implementation.

“Guns cannot resolve the issues. You will have to sit and clear the accounts,” he said and added: “Beware of the time when more gas pipelines and installations will be blasted (in Balochistan).”

Mr Baloch’s remarks about a possible ‘independent Balochistan’ infuriated chief whip of the PML in the Senate, Kamil Ali Agha, who intervened and asked the chairman to stop Mr Baloch from speaking against the federation.

Mr Agha said that the government did not recognize the Senator as a true representative of the people of Balochistan.

It led to an exchange of hot words between Mr Baloch and Mr Agha who also passed personal remarks against each other, which were expunged by the chairman, Mohammedmian Soomro.

PML-N Senator Ishaq Dar asked the government to focus on real issues, instead of raising objections to someone’s speech.

He said it was a fact that a sense of deprivation had been increasing in all the provinces due to failure of the government to finalize the NFC Award. He said it was the collective responsibility of all of them to resolve the matter amicably.