PHOTO: EXPRESS
PESHAWAR: With newly-elected members from the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata) in the ranks, the provincial assembly on Wednesday passed the National Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill 2019. Indian atrocities in Kashmir were also discussed.
The session afforded these new members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) to participate in the debate and they directed the house to address critical issues in the newly-merged tribal districts.
The bill was passed as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly convened on Wednesday morning with Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ghani in the chair.
Advisor to K-P Chief Minister on Education Ziaullah Khan Bangash tabled the Razmak Cadet College Regularization Bill 2019, in the house.
During the session, tribal lawmakers Naseerullah Khan, Syed Iqbal Mian, Mir Kalam Khan, Muhammad Iqbal took to the floor and gave short speeches about the conditions in the tribal districts.
They said that the seven merged tribal districts have suffered the most due to the War on Terror in Afghanistan and the subsequent struggle against militants and urged the provincial government to address critical infrastructure challenges.
“Due to the military operations in the merged districts, infrastructure such as highways, educational institutions, health facilities, power distribution network and water supply scheme have been badly affected,” said Mir, the independent MPA from PK-112 North Waziristan-II.
“Residents [of tribal areas] have been displaced to other parts of the country and even to Afghanistan,” he lamented.
“We demand that the money allocated for development in the seven merged districts should be doubled so that all outstanding issues are addressed on time,” he added, noting that they continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the troops in their hour of need and are also ready to sacrifice themselves for the Kashmir cause.
Leaders from the treasury and opposition benches welcomed the newly-elected lawmakers from ex-Fata into the house. They assured them full cooperation in the resolution of the problems faced by their respective areas.
Legislators from both treasury and opposition benches said that the newly elected members will redress the deprivations of their areas and will play a critical role in mainstreaming their respective tribal areas.
Kashmir resolution
During the session, assembly members from both sides of the aisle expressed solidarity with their Kashmiri brethren and called for granting them the right to self-determination.
Opposition leaders including Awami National Party’s (ANP) Sardar Hussain Babak, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal-Pakistan (MMA-P) Mullana Lutfur Rehman, and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sher Azam Wazir said that they support the government’s stance on the Kashmir cause and condemned the Indian brutalities in the disputed Himalayan territory.
They said that Pakistan is incomplete until Kashmir gains independence.
Parliamentary leaders of various political parties said that the sacrifices rendered by Kashmiris will not go in vain and they will ultimately secure their fundamental right to independence.
All parliamentary parties also expressed the resolve to bring a joint resolution on the Kashmir issue and called for expressing solidarity over the Kashmir issue to give a strong message to the world.
Legislators further castigated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for murdering democracy by changing the constitutional status of Kashmir and annexing the disputed territory.
They said that it is now the responsibility of the United Nations to implement its resolutions regarding Kashmir and resolve the issue as per aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Later, after the quorum was pointed out, the session was adjourned until Thursday morning.
Media protest
Soon after the session began, media representatives covering the assembly proceedings boycotted the session to protest the government’s failure to take action against employees of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project who had manhandled media teams.
Finance Minister Taimoor Salim Jhagra and MPA Fazle Elahi hurriedly rushed towards the protesting journalists to convince them to end their boycott. However, the journalists decided not to end their protest and moved out of the assembly.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2019.
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