PESHAWAR, Dec 23: The lawmakers from Swat have asked the government to constitute a commission, which should ascertain the main causes of lawlessness in the valley and suggest measures for the rectification of the situation.

Speaking on deteriorating law and order situation in the province on Tuesday in the House, Shamsher Ali literally burst into tears while narrating the gory details of the bloodshed in his home district.

He said that gunshots had replaced the chirping of birds. He said Swat was not a tribal area rather it was a liberal and modern district. He said both security agencies and militants were engaged in the killing of people.

Dr Haider, also from Swat, proposed the establishment of a commission to investigate the ongoing bloodshed in the valley. He also proposed that medical and security services should be improved to cater to the needs of people.

Waqar Ahmed, from Swat, said General (retired) Pervez Musharraf had gone but his legacy was still intact in all walks of life. The ANP, he said, was opposed to politics of violence but it was to deal with the legacy of the previous government. He asked the government to allow the people to get passport from nearby districts, because the passport office in Swat had been closed for an indefinite period.

Syed Jaffar Shah, also from Swat, said: “We have no full-time home minister. All other provinces have separate home ministers but in Frontier we haven’t it. This is also a cause of maladministration.” He called upon the chair to set up a commission on Swat, which should unveil the evil forces engaged in killing of innocent residents of the valley. He asked the government to write off the loans of people, who were the target of worst kind of terrorism in their district.

Malik Badshah Saleh of PPP, from Upper Dir, also endorsed the views of lawmakers from Swat. He said the militants were killers of innocent people

The lawmakers also hit hard at the duo from the NWFP administrative hierarchy -- Chief Secretary Sahibzada Riaz Noor and Provincial Police Officer Malik Naveed Khan -- for the growing lawlessness and maladministration in the province.

Ateefur Rehman from Peshawar, said that the chief secretary and PPO should have to come to the House today but both were not present.

He said that police were involved in fleecing of public at the so-called barriers. He asked the government to end all those police barriers, which didn’t serve the masses. He demanded of the government to open the Gen. Bakht Khan Road, leading towards US Consulate and abutting on the Khyber Road.

Mufti Janan of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal said that the government had lost its writ in district Hangu. He said the security agencies had failed to bring peace in Hangu, however they had succeeded in killing a large number of innocent people. He said government had turned the area into another Afghanistan, where bloodletting was continuing unhindered.

He asked that what the government had achieved so for from the so-called operations. He said when people lost everything, they turned into suicide bombers. He asked the government to stop operation and start negotiations with the people for a lasting solution of the problem.

Mohammad Anwar Khan, a Pakistan People’s Party MPA from Upper Dir, said people had become sandwiched between the security agencies and the militants and both were killing them, one in the name of Islam and the other in the name of operation against the militants. He asked the speaker to form a House committee, which should negotiate with Maulana Sufi Mohammad for restoration of peace in Malakand division.Shagufta Malik of Awami National Party argued that the global powers had made the Pakhtun homeland their battleground to protect their economic interest in Asia. She said some evil forces were running an organised campaign to close the door of education on Pakhtuns by setting schools on fire.

She called upon all the political parties to get united against the menace of lawlessness, which was eroding all forms of decency and order.

Dr Khalid Raza Zakori, an independent MPA from Lakki Marwat, criticised the US and India for fueling lawlessness in this part of the world. He said the anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic forces were ganging up behind the US to unleash economic terrorism against the Muslim states, including Pakistan. He said the imperialism had made Pakistan’s eastern and western borders unsafe. He said a global nexus was trying to destabilise Pakistan.

“At present we don’t need any legislation and development. We need to make our defence stronger to meet the challenges,” he added. He didn’t utter a single word on the law and order in the province.