Political bickering delays joint session on Kashmir

Key members of PML-N believe summoning of the session would not go as planned

ISLAMABAD: The possibility of convening the Parliament’s joint session on the worsening situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) seems to have dimmed, apparently after the gulf between the treasury and opposition benches widened on key issues.

On July 15, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a special cabinet meeting on IOK situation in Lahore to announce convening Parliament’s joint session on the issue. “I and entire Pakistani nation steadfastly stand by Kashmiris against Indian oppression,” the PM had said back then.



However, the issue is now said to have been relegated to backburner.

A PML-N lawmaker said on condition of anonymity the yawning gap between the government and opposition, as reflected in the recent Senate and National Assembly sessions, deterred the rulers at the Centre from going ahead with the plan to call a joint session.

Key members of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) believe that the summoning of the joint session amid political hostility would not go as planned.

“It is not a doable idea in an environment of hostility,” the source told The Express Tribune. “The opposition can cash in on the situation by pointing its guns at us on any given pretext—such as accusing the government of not doing enough to highlight the Kashmir issue at the international level — or allege that the government has not responded effectively to counter Indian highhandedness — the slackness in diplomacy and all.”

During the recent NA session, the government and opposition lawmakers traded barbs on Karachi situation, Panamagate, Kashmir issue and the Quetta carnage. “If the joint session is convened and things do not go as planned — to demonstrate unity on Kashmir issue — this could prove embarrassing domestically, besides entailing unfavourable consequences internationally,” the insider argued.



PML-N Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq indirectly admitted that political hostility was the main reason behind the government’s reluctance to convene the joint session. “Unfortunately, there have been some recent incidents that did not portend well for parliamentary dignity. Some lawmakers were found using harsh language. In such an environment, calling the joint session on an issue that requires complete unanimity may not be a feasible idea,” he told The Express Tribune.

Asked if the government had abandoned the plan for a joint session, Haq said: “The possibility has not died down. The upcoming sessions of the upper and lower houses (of parliament) are just around the corner. The Parliament’s joint session can be held while both the houses are in session. This is not a difficult option,” the senator referred to NA session which is scheduled to be held on September 2 and Senate session on September 5.

Last week, the PM appointed 22 lawmakers as special envoys in different countries for lobbying against unabated Indian brutalities in IOK.



Prior to that, the premier dedicated Pakistan’s 70th Independence Day on August 14 to the freedom movement in IOK.

Before that, PM Sharif wrote separate letters to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, urging both officials to play their roles for an end to human rights violations in the occupied Valley and for sending a fact-finding mission to IOK.

The government is also set to highlight IOK issue in the upcoming session of UN General Assembly starting September 13. PM’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz has also written to Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières -MSF) with the request for treatment of eye injuries due to indiscriminate use of pellets in IOK.

Despite these steps, the PM’s pledge on convening the Parliament’s joint session on occupied Kashmir still awaits to be materialised.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2016.