“The wave of terrorism is not because of drone attacks, but these terrorists are operating to destabilize the existence of this country,” says leader of the opposition faisal Sabzwari. PHOTO: EXPRESS/RASHID AJMERI/FILE
In a joint resolution tabled in the assembly on Monday, lawmakers from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) noted that, “In this hour of grief we stand in solidarity with our fellow Pakistani Christian brethren and pledge to continue our fight against terrorism and work towards a progressive, peaceful Pakistan as envisioned by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.”
Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani of PPP, Arif Masih Bhatti of MQM and Nusrat Seher Abbasi of PML-F moved the resolutions.
During the session majority of the MPAs demanded that the federal government to revisit it’s policy of dialogue with Taliban and take action against the extremist elements without any further delay.
The opposition leader in the provincial assembly, MQM's Faisal Subzwari termed dialogue with extremists as a “vicious circle”. He said that it is high time to stand up against these terrorists.
“We should build consensus against these terrorists who have not only targeted our temples, churches, but have destroyed the mosques, Imam Bargah, girls' schools, government installations as well as army and navy installations killings thousands of innocent people in the country.”
Subzwari further said that the minority population in Pakistan has dropped to mere three per cent from 22 per cent that existed at the time of independence due to the attacks on the minorities and their properties in the country.
“The wave of terrorism is not because of drone attacks, but these terrorists are operating to destabilise the existence of this country,” he said.
Senior Minister for education Nisar Ahmed Khuhro questioned why federal government is mum on this issue. “A targeted operation has been started in Karachi against the criminals, but prime minister is still willing to give more time to terrorists who have paralysed the whole country."
"Extremists have started a war against solidarity and integrity of our country. We should go beyond the process of dialogue.”
Khuhro, while criticising the PML-N leaders, alleged that they have soft corners for terrorists which is why the federal government is reluctant to use force against them.
"It is not possible for PML-N led government to start the operation against the terrorists who had given the party level playing field in the last general election by targeting only PPP, MQM and ANP leaders."
"Some people and parties are afraid of taking against Taliban. I appreciate the members of this house who have spoken against Mullah Umar and his people," Khuhro said.
Meanwhile, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon demanded that all parties who had attended the all parties’ conference (APC) should revisit the decision of negotiating with Taliban who, according to him, have broken a number of promises.
“We have lost our leaders including Benazir Bhutto, but some parties are using the terrorists in their favor. These parties should now understand that these extremists are working on the agenda to destabilise Pakistan,” he lamented.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPAs while condemning the incident stressed on the need to continue the process of dialogue.
“These attacks have started in the wake of drone strike in Pakistan in which thousands of innocent people have killed. The attack on the church is yet another conspiracy to derail the ongoing negotiation process,” said PTI's Khurrum Sher Zaman.
“Our party’s viewpoint is being taken out of the context. We do not support the Jihadi elements, but we don’t want to indulge in civil war like situation in the country by starting bloodshed. We are in favour of intimating these people to give their weapons against own people because this has now become our war,” said Dr Seema Zia of PTI.
COMMENTS (3)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Kudos to Sindh Assembly for doing the right thing, shame on other assemblies for their failure to even condemn.
I agree wholeheartedly with Faisal Sabzwari's statement. It is time that the government did something to eliminate these kind of terrorrist acts.
WOW, So "thousands of innocent (TTP type) people" have been killed in Drone Strikes!!!! Attack on church is just another conspiracy according to PTI!!! Please sign up for more news from DENIALSTAN!