ISLAMABAD: Legislators across the aisle in the Senate on Monday unleashed a scathing attack on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan for allegedly sabotaging the national consensus on the Taliban being the enemies of Pakistan and Islam by calling them ‘our own people’ and pleading talks with them.
They shared a consensus that ever since the PTI had formed the government in KP, the law and order and security situation had deteriorated there. They added the trend of extortion was increasing in the province and industrialists were shifting to the Punjab. Senator Zahid Khan of the ANP said the Taliban viewed the PTI as their political wing.
The federal government was also criticised for being indecisive and sticking to the policy of drifting stalemate despite passage of six months since it came to power. It was regretted that despite the fact it was subsequently given a clear mandate by the all-party conference to either hold talks with the militants or use force against them, it failed to move forward either way.
The performance of the PTI-led government also came under massive attack from the senators on both sides of the divide, as ANP’s Haji Muhammad Adeel raised on a point of order the issue of killings of his party activist Mian Mushtaq, Aitzaz Hasan and the attack on PML-N leader Amir Muqam.
Though it was a private members’ day, Senate Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari suspended the rules to allow a debate on the issue, as lawmakers strongly condemned the wave of terrorism and rise in crimes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Adeel recalled the previous government in the province had taken the challenge of terrorism head-on notwithstanding the fact that scores of ANP workers and policemen were targeted. He added presently the law-enforcement agencies could not fight, as there was no political ownership around. “How can they take action against the Taliban, who are called brothers by Imran?” he retorted.
PPPP’s Mian Raza Rabbani charged the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not taking ownership of the things there. However, he focused on the Centre and lamented that the government had failed to adopt a clear policy and make headway on the issue of terrorism, being its subject.
He proposed to the government to summon a joint in-camera sitting of the two houses of parliament and explain with which militant groups it was holding talks. He asked why the Senate, already in session, was not taken into confidence thereon.
The parliament, the security establishment, political parties, the masses, being the biggest stake-holders, he contended, should know what progress Interior Minister Ch Nisar had talked about in his latest media conference.
ANP’s Afrasiab Khattak said his party’s government had given political ownership to the law-enforcement agencies in the province while today, the provincial government was losing its writ and ‘Fatafication’ of the province’s settled areas was under way.
He asked PTI leadership and the provincial government not to link the law and order to Taliban, being a provincial subject. He added uneven economic opportunities were forcing industrialists to shift to Punjab.
Muzaffar Hussain Shah of PML-F called for having a review of the whole issue and to ponder over what steps the government needed to take in the interim period and till what time, the issue of terrorism would be resolved and with which Taliban factions, talks were to be held. He emphasised the government must establish its writ during the interim period.
He warned the drifting stalemate should not persist and insisted the parliament must also chalk out a line of action on the issue and without any further delay.
PPPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said he was not disappointed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister but by the leader of a political party, alluding to Imran Khan, and today the entire nation was also disappointed. He alleged this leader’s biggest cruelty was that he sabotaged the national consensus that the militants were enemies of Pakistan, who wanted to occupy the state of Pakistan and impose their own brand of Islam.
“It was said that militants are ‘our brothers’ and if drones and Nato supplies are halted, terrorism will be over and that if talks can be held with India, being a state, why not with terrorists and this way the state narrative was damaged beyond repair,” he charged.
He said a historian would never forget and forgive the person, who destroyed consensus and lamented that even the law-enforcement agencies stood demoralised in KP.
The ruling PML-N’s parliamentary party leader Senator Mushahidullah Khan said what the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was doing was in line with what was being expected of it. “Imran has become Mayoos Khan and even the chief minister is short of idea what to do after the occurrence of a terrorist attack,” he retorted.
He said the KP was under attack while PTI leadership was criticising Punjab government and said this was how school kids behave at times.
The senator said the government of Punjab was ready to help Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in dealing with law and order.
Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of JUI-Fazl alleged that it appeared the government was not serious and said if Imran believed the PTI chief minister had disappointed him, then he himself should take over the provincial government.
On a motion moved by Senator Saeed Ghani of PPPP, besides him, Senators Shahi Syed and Abdul Rauf alleged that the May 11 elections were massively rigged. Ghani proposed that the Senate should have a review of the powers of the Election Commission of Pakistan, for it had failed despite tall claims to hold rigging-free polls.
