Senators call FC chief’s killing as intelligence failure

ISLAMABAD: The Senate did not conduct any business on Wednesday. Instead, the lawmakers spoke on points of order to condemn the killing of commandant Frontier Constabulary Sifwat Ghayuur in Peshawar and the absence of federal ministers from the House after the question hour. Both the opposition and the treasury described the assassination of Ghayuur as an intelligence failure.

In another interesting development Minister for States and Frontier Regions Najmuddin Khan admitted that he was powerless, while the railways minister promised a turnaround in his department if provided with 400 locomotives.

As the session started Senator Ismail Buledi made a hard-hitting speech pointing to the absence of federal ministers from the House. He asked the chairman and the leader of the house to resign if they could not ensure presence of ministers in the upper house of parliament.

Deputy Chairman Jan Jamali, who was presiding over the session, informed the House that the ministers had to leave after the question hour in order to attend a cabinet meeting. Opposition leader Senator Wasim Sajjad then requested the prime minister not to schedule cabinet meetings at such a time when parliament is in session.

Haji Adeel of the ANP pointed out the murder of FC Commandant Sifwat Ghayuur in the Peshawar suicide bombing. Some of the senators called for prayers for the soul of Ghayuur, but Senator Ghulam Ali of the JUI-F protested. “The Senate should not be turned into a condolence House,” he said.

PML-N Senator Ishaq Dar demanded that the Senate should be informed that how many terrorists had been brought to book so far. He also called for activation of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority. ANP Senator Ilyas Bilour protested that the terrorists were killing people with impunity while the interior minister was only issuing statements.

Senator Zafar Ali Shah of the PML-N said, “The murder of Sifwat Ghayuur is a slap in the face of the entire nation.” He said the government has not convened an all parties’ conference to chalk out a national counter-terror policy despite repeated demands by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif.

Leader of the House Nayyar Bokhari said that the APC has not been called because of the “negative attitude” of the PML-N. He said terrorism did not emerge during the tenure of the current government rather it started in 1979 when state agencies trained militants to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. He said all those who had started this and those political forces who joined hands with military dictators to promote militancy must seek apology from the nation.

Earlier during the Question Hour an interesting situation developed when Minister for SAFFRON Najmuddin Khan, while replying to a question, admitted that he was powerless. He said all authority was with the FATA Secretariat and he was powerless to overrule its decisions. Senator Ismail Buledi said, “The minister has spoken the truth. The House should pass a resolution, asking the government to give authority to the minister.”

The railways minister declared that his department was running in losses because of a shortage of locomotives. He said this shortage had caused the department to shut down services on some routes. “Give me 400 locomotives and I’ll turn the railways into a profit-making department. If I couldn’t do it then you may hang me,” he said.

The Senate will resume session on Thursday evening.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2010.