Balochistan attacks aimed to ruin SCO summit: Naqvi

Interior minister tells Senate govt to deal with those taking up arms against state

ISLAMABAD:

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told the Senate on Friday that the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Balochistan was “planned to ruin” the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held in Pakistan in mid-October.

Summing up the debate on the Balochistan situation in the upper house of parliament, he reiterated the government’s resolve to deal with the elements who were taking up arms against the state. He made it clear that there was no operation taking place.

Pakistan will host the two-day SCO summit in Islamabad on October 15 and 16. For the summit meeting, the government had issued invitations to the heads of state and government of the SCO member countries, including Indian Prime Minister Modi.

“We have identified clear links, showing that they [terrorists] planned to ruin the SCO conference. A lot of people are in anguish [about SCO meeting] so that it should not be organised,” Naqvi told the house, stressing that the August 26 attacks were a conspiracy against the summit.

The house, which met here with Irfan Siddiqui from the panel of chair presiding, delayed the usual the Question Hour, and started the debate on Balochistan in the wake of terrorist attacks, in which scores of civilians and security forces personnel were martyred earlier this week.

The interior minister also said that that the Balochistan attacks were devised by not just one outfit rather “terrorist organisations had carried them out together”. “That incident was not a normal one. There was complete planning behind it,” he added.

“Those who acknowledge Pakistan, we will welcome them. They are very respectable to us but those who do not accept the state and take up arms are terrorists and we will deal with them,” Naqvi said, stressing the need for “clarity and unity” against the anti-state elements.

He informed the house that Rs13bn had been allocated for governance and counterterrorism efforts in the province. “The biggest issue [in Balochistan] is the shortage of government officers, who are the federal government representatives,” the minister said.

The interior minister stated that the Apex Committee had reviewed the decisions of the National Action Plan. He vowed his full support for the Balochistan government in combating terrorism when he visited the province this week.

Taking part in the debate earlier, Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz said that decisions should not be taken on the strength of the Apex Committee. “The problem is ours and our government should have a big heart,” he said. “The interior minister should take this issue seriously.”

Umar Farooq of the Awami National Party (ANP) pointed out that the people’s representatives in Balochistan did not have any authority rather the actual power lied somewhere else. “The chief minister even cannot change an assistant commissioner,” Farooq said.

He demanded that those having the actual powers in the province should be summoned to the house. He also slammed the interior minister’s remarks during a visit to Quetta this week, in which Mohsin Naqvi had said that “a single SHO would be enough to end terrorism” in Balochistan.

“He [Interior Minister Naqvi] is talking about SHO [police station house officer] but [he should] first, get rid of the armoured vehicles of the bandits in the Katcha areas,” he added. “Balochistan has been deprived for 70 years, for God sake, have mercy on them.”

Senator Palwasha Khan said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government came [in 2008], it announced the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan. “We have to see whose hand is behind the trigger and who is training them [the militants],” she added.

She accused India of being behind the unrest in Balochistan. “Ajit Doval's stamp on it at every step,” she said, referring to the national security adviser to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a former head of India’s premier spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Khan said those who lost their loved-ones should be listened to and suggested that a session of the Senate should be held in Quetta. “We should go there and listen to their problems. These families should be asked, what should be done in Balochistan.”

Senator Bilal Ahmad Khan said that Balochistan was an easy target for terrorists but parliament did not take the province’s issue seriously. “Enemy countries are using our people, our people are being used against us,” he said.

Zarqa Suharwardy said that two or three people could not find a solution to the problems, facing Pakistan, unless we listen to the stakeholders. She asked who would talk to the youth, the girls who left their homes in Gwadar.

ECP report

Meanwhile, the annual report of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for 2023 was presented in the House. The report was presented by Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar. Opposition Leader Faraz said that the ECP report should be discussed in the House.

Senator Abdul Shakur raised the issue of delay in the completion of the gas supply project in the Gulistan tehsil of Balochistan. The chair referred the matter to the relevant committee. Senator Dost Muhammad Khan raised issue of poor performance of the Pakistan cricket team.

Khan said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan should be released from jail because he was “an expert on terrorism”. However, Irfan Siddiqui, asked the senator to correct his sentences. Realising, Khan then said that “Imran Khan is an expert on ending terrorism”.

The chair also referred the matter of overbilling of electricity, raised by Palwasha Khan, to the relevant committee. Later, the session was adjourned till Monday evening.