Uptick in violence: PKMAP MP hits out at agencies as Senate condemns terror attacks

Quetta bombing was no less than 9/11 for us, says Senate deputy chairman

ISLAMABAD: Taking a cue from his party’s chief, a Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) lawmaker on Monday strongly criticised the country’s security agencies for ‘their failure’ to pre-empt recent terror attacks as the upper house of parliament passed a resolution against the Quetta, Mardan and Peshawar bombings.

“An agonising event happened in Quetta on August 8, in which 60 top lawyers among others were martyred. This was not just a tragedy for Quetta, but for the entire country. This incident was no less than 9/11 for us,” said Senate Deputy Chairman Ghafoor Haideri.

He also lamented the suicide attack on District Courts in Mardan. “Terrorism is a major issue for the country. It is a shared responsibility of our security agencies and the government (to defeat this menace),” he added.

“The Senate condemns the barbaric attack of terrorism in Quetta, in which lawyers were targeted,” stated the resolution moved by leader of the house Raja Zafarul Haq. “The Senate strongly condemns attacks on Christian Colony in Peshawar and on Mardan Courts.”

“This house stands by the legal community and expresses solidarity with them in the hour of grief,” it read. The house expressed deep sorrow over the killing of innocent people in the gruesome incidents.

PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, while speaking in the National Assembly on August 9, had hit out at the intelligence agencies asking Premier Nawaz Sharif to sack their chiefs if they failed to investigate the Quetta tragedy. Achakzai invited scathing criticism for his comments while a citizen filed a disqualification reference against him.

Taking a cue from Achakzai, a PkMAP senator, Usman Khan Kakar, also criticised the agencies on Monday, singling out the statements of political and military officials that the Quetta attack was, in fact, an attempt to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “This was a wrong statement,” he said. “Where is CPEC in Peshawar, Fata and Kalat,” he said while referring to the terror attacks elsewhere in the country.

“Parliament has made a huge mistake by approving a constitutional amendment under which military courts were set up in the country,” Kakar added. “There are 36 intelligence agencies in the country and the country’s defence is given additional budget every year, but Nacta and apex committees have failed.”

“The Quetta tragedy is a failure of the security forces, there should be an investigation against those responsible [for the security lapse],” he said.

As many as 1,500 tribal elders of Fata have been murdered and 50,000 Pashtuns have been killed in the war on terrorism, he said. “Some politicians have accused Mahmood Khan Achakzai of treachery, but [the one] who had violated the Constitution has been sent to Dubai,” he said, referring to former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf. “We are proud of this conspiracy. We want supremacy of parliament and oppose intervention of forces in politics.”



Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Senator Sirajul Haq said Premier Nawaz should have gathered all political parties in Quetta after the deadly bombing. “The federal and provincial governments have failed to provide security to people, and hence have no right to remain in power. If people have to protect themselves, then what is the job of the government?”

Leader of opposition Aitzaz Ahsan said: “No government minister is present in the house. There is no use listening to this debate, we want the government to hear. But who is listening to us here?”

He then led the opposition to walk out from the house. Not only the opposition, but a member of the treasury benches, Senator Shahbaz Durrani, also joined them. The house was adjourned for half-an-hour and then adjourned due to lack of quorum. Interestingly, none of the items on the agenda was taken up during the proceedings.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2016.