Denial to debate Lahore rape triggers walkout

The opposition in the provincial assembly on Friday staged a protest and walked out of the house after they were stopped from discussing the brutal gang-rape of a woman on the Lahore-Gujranwala Motorway.

As the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly resumed on Friday morning, with Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan in the chair, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) member Naeema Kishawar spoke on a point of order, raising the Lahore rape case, the murder of the transgender in Peshawar and the statement of Lahore Capital City Police Officer Umar Shaikh.

She added that if the absence of a companion and lack of fuel in the car was the sole reason the culprits did what they did in Lahore, then in the Sahiwal case, the woman had a companion and they had sufficient petrol as well but the state has failed to arrest the culprits.

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) reserved seat lawmaker Naeem Kishawar said that a resolution in the house will not work. She added that they needed concrete measures on the ground and that the prime minister should take swift action on the incident.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) woman leader Nighat Orakzai made repeated requests to the chair to take the floor to discuss the issue but Jan denied her permission.

After exchanging some terse words with Jan, Orakzai walked out of the house in protest.

Jan, however, maintained that he could not allow the house to be held hostage to such tactics.

He added that Orakzai had twice pointed out the quorum and bells were rung each time but the quorum could not be completed for a session which the opposition had itself sought.Hydropower projects

Jamaat-e-Islami parliamentary leader Inyatullah Khan, in a call-to-attention notice, stated that the World Bank had started two hydropower projects in Dir which were rolled back and shifted to Swat.Kamran explained that the decision to drop the 69-megawatt power project in Dir in favour of a 157-megawatt hydropower project in Swat will be explained by the advisor on power Himyatullah Khan.

He added that the provincial government has so far completed 10 hydropower projects to produce 162 megawatts of power while work on projects to generate 207 megawatts is continuing.

Responding to Inayatullah, Kamran said that the provincial government did not suspend any project, rather it was the prerogative of the international donor which projects were prioritised.Chakdara motorway

The provincial assembly couldn’t complete its discourse on the Chakdara-Chitral motorway on Friday due to a lack of quorum.

During a discussion on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Inyatullah said that the Chakdara-Chitral Motorway had been designated as an alternate route for the corridor to the Swat Expressway.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2020.