Quetta carnage: MPs censure govt for not shacking banned outfits

Senate panel passes Hindu marriage bill despite opposition from JUI-F

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel took strong exception to the government’s ‘inaction’ over the judicial commission’s report on the Quetta hospital carnage and sought a follow-up report from the interior ministry.

MQM lawmaker Nasreen Jalil chaired the meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights. MPs lambasted the interior ministry for not responding to any letter or notification on human rights and related issues.

Senator Farhatullah Babar said the commission’s report suggested bringing all intelligence agencies under one umbrella for better coordination, but “nothing has so far been done neither under the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) or National Action Plan.”

As many as 70 people had been killed on August 8 last year when a suicide bomber targeted Quetta’s Civil Hospital. The Supreme Court formed a judicial commission in October headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa which submitted its report on December 15 last year.

Criticising the authorities concerned, Senator Babar pointed out that activists of banned organisations were roaming freely and resurfacing under new names, while the state was silent.

Wondering why some banned outfits were being sheltered, Senator Babar said there was no justification for protecting Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar from UN sanctions. “The Chinese government would not have to step in to protect the JeM unless the Pakistan government had specifically asked for this … The government must tell why a banned outfit in Pakistan should be protected from UN sanctions?”

Continuing the debate, Senator Nasreen Jalil said: “This is not acceptable … How can we defeat this menace [terrorism) if you [secretly] support them.”

Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini, who had lost a son in the Quetta blast, insisted that if no meetings had taken place between the interior minister and members of proscribed outfits, such incidents [Quetta blast] could not have happened. “If there is no support for [such outfits], terrorism will die down within a month,” he claimed.

Senator Babar also pointed out that the commission had suggested activating Nacta. “This means the body is dysfunctional until now.”

The panel also passed The Hindu Marriage Bill of 2016 despite opposition from JUI-F’s Mufti Abdul Sattar. The bill, already passed by the National Assembly, bars marriages of Hindu couples younger than 18 years of age.

Mufti Sattar said the bill would pave way for other minorities to demand similar changes in the Constitution, which is in conflict with the existing law.

Later, the committee discussed the attack on the place of worship of Ahmadis in Chakwal.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2017.