Review US policy, Punjab MPAs tell Centre

LAHORE: Opposition and treasury members in the Punjab Assembly (PA) asked the government to review its policy towards the US on Friday.

The MPAs also continued their criticism of the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) agreement, terming it anti-Pakistan.

Speaking on a point of order, PML-N MPA Rana Afzal said, “We should review our policy towards the US, which has never served our interest. The US is opposing our nuclear deal with China, despite the fact that we are facing a huge power shortage,” he added. Afzal drew attention to the “sacrifices that Pakistan is making in the war on terror” to make his point.

“Pakistan is burdened with two million Afghan refugees and our economy is suffering but the US is busy pleasing India,” he said.

Alaud Din Sheikh, a PML-Q MPA, said that the ATT agreement had been signed “to provide India a trade route to Afghanistan”. Finance Minister Tanveer Ashraf Kaira said, “No agreement has been signed; only minutes of the meeting were signed.” Sheikh, in response, challenged Kaira that he could prove to the House that the agreement had been signed. Sheikh said, “India should not be given any concession, at any cost. India is killing innocent people in Kashmir and in return we are giving it leeway.” Sheikh termed the agreement a sign of disloyalty to the martyrs.

Leader of the opposition, Chaudhry Zaheerud Din agreed with Sheikh saying that Pakistan already had conflicts over water and Kashmir with India. “Pakistan should not have given an opportunity to India,” he said.

Mohsin Leghari asked the speaker to allow the House more time for debating the ATT. The speaker denied his request, quoting the law minister’s absence as the reason. The session was then prorogued for an indefinite period.

Earlier, during the Question Hour, the parliamentary secretary Saeed Mughal admitted that Punjab government had not allocated any funds for buying the rice crop from the farmers. He was responding to an observation by Chaudhry Zaheer, who noted that the government does not have a rice procurement policy, adding that the farmers would suffer as a result. The parliamentary secretary beat about the bush but was told by the speaker,”It is an important matter and should be taken seriously.”

PPP MPA Syed Hasan Murtaza also demanded that the Punjab government hand over sugar cess to the district governments, saying that the provincial government had no right over the fund.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2010.