Senate body condemns ceasefire violations by India

Expresses concern over rapid increase in coronavirus cases

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior in its meeting on Thursday strongly condemned the continuous ceasefire violations by Indian forces at the Line of Control (LoC) targetting the civilian population.

The committee showed serious concern over the rapid increase in positive cases of coronavirus and deaths across the country, offered prayers for those who lost their lives while combating the deadly contagion and expressed sympathies with their bereaved families.

The senate body also paid rich tribute to doctors, nurses, and paramedics, Pakistan Army, police and other LEAs for serving the nation during the pandemic.



The committee unanimously passed two important resolutions. The resolution passed against Indian aggression at LOC also condemned the unprecedented

brutalities by the Indian state against oppressed people of Kashmir and expressed grief over the killing of 35 innocent Kashmiri youth. It further condemned state violence against Muslims in India.

Commencing the meeting, Senator Rehman Malik said that the committee had held an emergency meeting on February 27th, 2020 on coronavirus after assessing its

spread in Pakistan soon after its outbreak in China and Iran and had formulated a comprehensive 37-point Anti-Coronavirus National Action Plan. Malik regretted that the people were not following SOPs. He stressed that the testing capacity must be increased and urged the government to not ignore patients in rural areas and mobile laboratories.

The Senate committee also advised the government to call and host the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) moot to discuss the coronavirus outbreak and formulate a common counter coronavirus strategy. In this regard, Malik moved the second resolution which was adopted by the committee unanimously.



Meanwhile, Malik said the committee continued working during the lockdown and along with letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan about measures against coronavirus, he also wrote to Secretary General United Nations and FATF to remove Pakistan’s name from the latter’s Grey List, adding that it was a matter of immense triumph that the country was given temporary relief.

Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Azam Khan Swati, on behalf of the government, applauded and recognised the efforts of the senator in this regard.

The committee also discussed unrest in Balochistan in detail that came to light after the killing of a boy from a local tribe followed by the murder of another youth from the accused clan.