Senate urges US payout for drone victims

House discusses business ventures of military

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday asked the government to approach the US administration to seek compensation for the loss of lives and properties Pakistanis suffered in the American drone attacks since year 2000.

Senator Javed Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) moved a resolution in this regard, which was unanimously adopted by the House. The resolution said that the government should demand of the US to pay compensation for the loss of lives and damages to property since 2000.

It also urged the government to send copies of the resolution to the United Nations, European Union, Commonwealth, Asian Parliamentary Association to highlight the social, economic and psychological impact on the Pakistani society because of the drone attacks.



Monday’s proceedings came a day before the house receives a briefing from Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani told the house that the in-camera briefing will be followed by question and answer session.

While appearing before the Senate Committee of the Whole, Rabbani added, General Qamar Javed Bajwa would be accompanied by Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Tahir Shamshad Mirza.

Rabbani said the army chief would brief the house on the prevailing security situation and give institutional point of view of the armed forces about his recent visits abroad, particularly of Iran and Afghanistan.

On Monday, the house discussed the business ventures of the armed forces and demanded that the military should focus on defence-related matters. The discussion was initiated by Senator Mohsin Aziz of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Taking part in discussion, Senator Farhatullah Babar called for a gradual and planned shift of businesses and commercial activities from the military to private sector to make the indigenous industry viable and economical.



Babar said the Senate recently learnt that there were more than 50 Milbus [military in business] enterprises in the country – “from cement, fertiliser and sugar production to banking to real estate to aviation to bakery products to literally everything under the sun”.

But “answers to critical questions like contracts awarded without bids and loans written off, are not available”, Babar said and added: “The distortion in the playing-field in industrial production by Milbus is a reality that needs to be investigated and addressed.”

He went on to say that contracts for toll collection involving tens of millions of rupees a day was awarded to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) without bids. The National Logistic Cell (NLC) got away neatly when a bridge built by it in Karachi collapsed on the day it was to be inaugurated.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senator referred to book titled ‘Military Inc’ which claimed in 2007 that the military’s net worth was more than £10 billion. This, he said, was many times more than the total foreign direct investment generated by Pakistan that year.

Many of the country’s large corporations worth billions are controlled by the security establishment, involved in literally every industrial activity, he said, adding there was this Askari Airlines, although the minister concerned denies any knowledge if it was part of the Askari business conglomerate.



Babar said that after 2013 elections, the Iranian President had advised his country’s Revolutionary Guards to restrict their commercial and industrial activities to weapons and defence sectors and called upon the government to realistically review industrial policies.

He proposed curtailing the range of Milbus activities to projects in defence and weapons only. Discrimination against local industry and private entrepreneurs and the absence of a level-playing field is a factor impeding industrial progress in the country, he said.

During the session, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told the house that the government had asked 27 international non-governmental organisation (INGOs) to close their operations and offices in Pakistan.

Chaudhry said 139 INGOs had applied for registration under the new policy unveiled on October 1, 2015, out of which 66 had been allowed to operate after their work plans were approved, while registration of 27 was cancelled.

Activities of some of these INGOs were found to be against national security, Chaudhry said, adding that those who had been denied permission were given the right to file an appeal against the decision to a committee headed by the interior minister within 90 days.

The house postponed the winding up of discussion on last month’s sit-in in Faizabad until Wednesday. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi would himself give the policy statement on the issue, the chair said.

After Committee of the Whole meeting in the morning on Tuesday (today), the house would reconvene in the afternoon. It is likely to take up the 24^th Constitutional Amendment Bill, pertaining to the delimitations of the constituencies.