National Assembly of Pakistan. PHOTO: APP
ISLAMABAD: With travel restrictions imposed on Pakistan for its inability to control the spread of polio virus, parliamentarians on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution, vowing to make Pakistan polio-free, Express News reported.
Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar informed the house that no new case has been detected in Punjab and Balochistan while there has been an increase in the number of instances in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
A few lawmakers also locked horns over how to tackle the epidemic during the session.
During a debate on the issue in the National Assembly, Jamiat-e-Ulema-Islami Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Maulana Jamaluddin blamed the US drone campaign for the presence of polio in the country. He called on the government to divert its attention and resources to investigate the link between polio and the unmanned aircraft that hover over the tribal belt of Pakistan.
“They [US] kill us through drones and also spread polio,” Jamaluddin said. He, however, himself did not give any substantial proof to back his claims.
Rubbishing this bizarre allegation, Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Nafeesa Shah said connecting drones with polio was propaganda manufactured by the enemies of state and that the government should squash such conspiracies.
“It is a national shame that travel restrictions have been imposed on Pakistani nationals,” Shah lamented, adding that Pakistan was one of the three countries exporting the virus.
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Oh So our politicians not only have fake degrees but they also have a severely low IQ level.
@RM: Mistrust about polio vaccine greatly predates he Afridi case. Secondly Afridi ran an unauthorized jaundice vaccination camp which requires injections NOT a polio camp which requires oral drips. So no way to confuse the two. It is not as though ALLL vaccinations in Pakistan have stopped. So why target polio? Finally i could have understood if parents were hesitant to give a vaccine to their kids due to Afridi but how oes it explain people shooting polio workers.
These are just excuses.
One of the better things about Freedom of Speech -- it allows you to readily identify a real idiot.
Polio vaccination was being refused in Pakistan long before Dr Afridi.
law makers like maulana Jamaluddin is proving that Pakistan has no future in the developing world.
@RM: Sir. i would like to partially agree to your statement. It started with Afridi but Maulana Jamaluddin did not have a point. In your complete comment you have not used the word Drone because in Shakil Afridi's case there was no Drone involved.
So the JUI zealot is implying that people in FATA were very welcoming to the polio vaccines before the drone strikes. Why is that such rubbish always comes from the ranks of the right wing parties.
Its all started with fake vaccination cunducted by CIA. those who were vaccinated by this fake vaccination should sue CIA in international courts.
'Land of pure' is one of the most liberal countries in the world to allow retards and criminals to sit in Legislative assembly!
Wow ! ....and these people actually sit in our assemblies and are designated as ' law makers '
I think Maulana has a point. Mistrust about health workers started with Shakil Afridi case. US used health workers as spy agents to trace out miscreants, which is ethically wrong. Pakistan must raise this issue at US domestic level. Show to their people how low US can go. WHO is another forum. US must share the shame alongwith our leadership that let the US got off the hook on this issue!
The DRONE - the new national bird of Pak.