Sectarian killings echo in Senate

ISLAMABAD: The ongoing wave of sectarian killings echoed in the Senate on Friday, as PPP Senator Sherry Rehman called for implementation of the National Action Plan and noted that banned outfits were holding rallies in every city.

On a point of public importance, Senator Sherry, who is PPP’s parliamentary leader in the House, raised the matter and said a well-thought-out campaign against a particular school of thought was gripping the country presently.

“Extremism and militancy is a very serious and sensitive and dangerous matter, while banned organizations are holding rallies in every city,” she pointed out. She also referred to a clip viral on the social media showing two persons on a motorbike gunning down a banker in Islamabad outside a bank.

She continued that incidents of sectarianism were on the rise in the country and asserted the government must overcome this dangerous trend and asked what had happened to the National Action Plan, pleading for urgent action in this connection.

Banned organizations, she emphasized, needed to be given a direct message: it was part of the National Action Plana but nothing was being done, and we could not keep quiet about it. Senator Sherry said that every citizen of Pakistan was entitled to protection and the government should ensure the safety of the people of Pakistan while even minorities were feeling scared.

“This wave of sectarian violence in Pakistan is extremely dangerous and all of us agree that to become a peaceful democratic society we cannot let such extremism and intolerance exist within us. It is crucial that the government gives a policy statement and takes action,” she said.

Stressing religious tolerance, she said, “This is Jinnah’s Pakistan where “You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed—that has nothing to do with the business of the state”.

The government, she emphasised, needed to protect these basic rights. “Our Prophet (SAW) always respected and protected anyone who was vulnerable and gave them space. We seek to be a progressive, inclusive country and such incidents will only tarnish our image in the world.

We all need to sit together and come up with an action plan to curb this issue before it escalates even more. The federal government also needs to urgently address the alarming increase in sectarian violence,” she maintained.

Prior to this, the House proceedings were marred again by passing of derogatory remarks, allegations, insults and threats between PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan and MQM Pakistan Senator Mian Ateeq Sheikh. For quite some time, Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani and some other senators tried to cool them down but failed.

Mushahidullah and Mian Ateeq also used unparliamentary words against each other. Some remarks were expunged by the chair. Some remarks passed by PML-N senator without naming the MQM senator irked Mian Ateeq and then both had a long verbal attack against each other. At one point, Senator Mushahidullah said he lived in Karachi for 20 years and his (MQM) party had tried to assassinate him twice.

Mian Ateeq hit back by saying that they tarnished the dignity of the people and wanted them out of the House. Leader of Opposition Senator Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq said that the House was not functioning as per rules, as switching off mike was not enough for a senator trying to disrupt the proceedings while already a senator was speaking. Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs Senator Babar Awan said the Senate could not talk in this environment and that he was not taking sides but all should be environment-friendly.

Senator Babar Awan said when a supplementary question was asked, it should be left to the question while Senator Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif of MQM-P said that political attacks should be carried out but personal attacks should not be.

The chair referred a matter relating to a female officer to the House committee concerned for deliberations and report, who was being allegedly harassed by her seniors through various means and she and her kids felt extremely unsafe, despite having approached the Federal Ombudsman and the HR committee of the Supreme Court. The matter reported on the social media was raised by PPP Senator Rukhsana Zubairi.

PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid raised the issue of what he called the increasing insecurity of journalists across the country, including Islamabad and urged for its referral to the concerned committee and those, who were abducted should be invited and heard.