KKH massacres: Lawmakers call for formation of parliamentary committee

Issue to be discussed with G-B chief minister on September 10: GBLA Speaker.

GILGIT:

Lawmakers in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (G-BLA) have proposed forming a parliamentary committee to ensure that the people involved in the massacre of passengers on the Karakoram Highway (KKH) are arrested.

The government has not initiated dialogues with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government for arrest of the terrorists and for making the KKH secure in the future, said a Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) lawmaker Mirza Hussain during the assembly session. He suggested that a parliamentary committee be formed and mandated to hold talks with the K-P government and interior ministry to ensure safe travel between Rawalpindi and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

GBLA Speaker Wazir Baig remarked that the issue will be discussed with Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on September 10 as the he was not present during the assembly session.

Nawaz Khan Naji, a nationalist leader, tabled a resolution to condemn massacre of passengers, mostly Shias, on the KKH, and the resolution was passed unanimously by the lawmakers.

Independent lawmakers Didar Ali, Raziuddin, and Rehmat Khaliq, Sarwar Shah of JUI and Bashir Ahmed of PML-Q also spoke during the session. They demanded that all those people who kill in the name of sect and religion be brought to task.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2012.