Curbing violence: NA panel seeks reports on why LEAs failed

Political parties will also offer suggestions to maintain law and order.

ISLAMABAD:

The first session of the National Assembly special  committee on law and order witnessed an exchange of heated arguments over the significance of parliament after a PML-N MNA declared it had become ‘redundant’ in the current scenario.

“Parliament has become redundant since people have more faith in the Supreme Court for a resolution of their issues,” claimed Rana Tanveer Hussain during a discussion on whether the committee’s proceedings should be held in-camera. His statement prompted PPP MNA Noor Alam Khan to demand Hussain’s resignation for his ‘derogatory’ remarks. The special committee on law and order was set up by NA Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza to address the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi and Balochistan.

Coming back to business, committee members asked Interior Minister Rehman Malik for a briefing to explain why law enforcement agencies had failed to curb the violence. The committee has also asked for detailed reports from inspectors general (IG) of Sindh and Balochistan police and chiefs of Frontier Corps (FC), Rangers and intelligence agencies. Political parties will also submit their reports and offer suggestions to maintain law and order. The committee has decided to meet every day from September 30. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2011.