Days ahead of the commencement of the National Assembly’s fifth parliamentary year, the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday took up the chronic issue of missing persons. Submitting a resolution, signed by every single MP of the party, to the National Assembly, the PML-N demanded the constitution of a special parliamentary committee to address the issue.
The resolution proposed that the high-level committee should comprise members from both houses of parliament and be constituted in consultation with the leader of the house (Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani) and the leader of the opposition (PML-N’s Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan).
The party said that the committee should approach security institutions, intelligence agencies and the families of missing persons. The committee should submit its findings to the house within two months, it added.
The resolution also suggested that appropriate legislation should be made to define the role of security and intelligence agencies. “This legislation should be made in light of the decisions of the apex court; findings of the Saleem Shehzad Commission and views of the families of missing persons,” it stated.
On Wednesday, the upper house of parliament passed a unanimous resolution condemning the practice of enforced disappearances. Senator Professor Khursheed Ahmed of the Jamaat-e-Islami had moved the resolution in the Senate, which said that the disappearances of people were a violation of several constitutional provisions.
In August 2011, a 17-member special committee of the National Assembly on the law and order situation in Karachi and Quetta was constituted. The special committee, headed by Religious Affairs Minister Khursheed Shah, had been asked to report back to the house with recommendations within two months. However, reportedly, the special committee did not meet any Baloch leaders to initiate dialogue in order to bring peace to the troubled province.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2012.
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Good step indeed! Atleast there is someone to hold knots of country men.