Senate’s panel questions sacking of ERRA employees

Urges amicable resolution to cases registered against protesting students

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights in its meeting on Friday took serious notice of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) staff, who had served the authority for more than a decade, being sacked.

The committee, which met at the Parliament House, was also briefed on the procedure of employing Sohail Ayaz in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) for two terms despite his criminal past.

The meeting was chaired by Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokar and was attended by Senator Kesho Bai, Senator Usman Khan Kakar, Senator Quratul Ain Marri, Senator Kamran Michael and senior officers of the Ministry of Human Rights, Punjab Home Department, Punjab Police, ERRA and representatives of the K-P government. Ex-senator Farhatullah Babar was a special invitee.

Deliberating on the plight of ERRA employees and the stance adopted by the organisation, the committee was of the view that an out-of-court settlement on the matter must be sought as these employees have dedicated a good part of their lives serving the organisation.

It was directed that the Establishment Division be summoned in the next meeting to provide an overview of the letter that was sent to sacked employees two months ago. The matter was disposed of on the directions that a committee be formed to review the matter closely.

ERRA Chairman Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal responded positively to the queries of the committee and assured to resolve the matter at the earliest.

Sedition cases against students

The Senate’s human rights panel deplored registration of sedition case against student activists in Lahore.

Police had registered cases against students in the Lahore Civil Lines police station alleging that they were raising anti-state slogans during the recently-held student marches.

The committee also took strong exception to the registration of a case against the father of Mashal Khan, the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan student who was lynched by a mob. The committee stressed that this matter must be resolved amicably and all charges against Mashal’s father must be dropped.

The students were urged to refrain from making such statements. It was asserted that before slapping charges, parametres of sedition and patriotism must be defined. Investigation DIG, on behalf of the Punjab IG, assured the committee that an amicable solution will be sought.

The committee asserted that it takes seriously allegations of harassment made against the chief security officer of the Balochistan University and that these must be investigated thoroughly.

While being briefed on the procedure of procuring employment of Ayaz in K-P government, the committee asserted a system must be formulated to make available criminal records at all provincial home departments accessible to the Interior Ministry. Interior secretary and FIA director general were summoned for the next meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2019.