Rare unanimity: Lawmakers denounce attacks on polio vaccinators

NA passes resolution; senators say attacks tarnished Pakistan’s international image.

ISLAMABAD:

Lawmakers in both houses of parliament condemned Tuesday’s synchronised attacks on polio fieldworkers in Karachi and Peshawar, calling for the government to ensure security of vaccinators across the country.

The National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Wednesday to denounce the killing of five inoculators in seemingly synchronised attacks in Karachi and suburban Peshawar.

“This house strongly condemns the attacks on polio fieldworkers and demands the federal and provincial governments to ensure that full protection and security is provided to all personnel involved in the polio eradication campaign so that this noble and essential mission is completed,” reads the resolution jointly moved by three parties.

SA Iqbal Qadri of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), Zahid Hamid from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Shazia Marri and Noor Alam Khan individually presented resolutions on behalf of their parties – but after a ruling from the speaker, these were clubbed together.



Tabled by Qadri, the joint resolution urged the government to ensure continuation of the anti-polio campaign so that the “future of our children is safeguarded from the menace”.

Former religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi denounced the attacks and called for a “chemical analysis” of the polio drops being administered in the country saying that “there is a perception that it is being used for ethnic cleansing of Muslims.” He said these false impressions should be dispelled and people from civil society and religious scholars should be taken on board in this regard.

Senators’ take

Meanwhile in the upper house of parliament, senators across party lines also condemned Tuesday’s killing of polio vaccinators and feared that if the killers were not punished, the country would become a laughing stock worldwide.

Speaking on points of orders during the Senate session on Wednesday, the lawmakers demanded that the government bring the culprits to the book.

“Our image is being tarnished across the globe,” lamented PPP Senator Saeed Ghani. Senator Hasil Bizenjo said Pakistan will be isolated in the international community if such incidents continued. “This is a very serious issue. Pakistan will become a threat to the world if we fail to eradicate the disease.”  Babar Awan of the PPP termed the incident a failure of law enforcement agencies, asking why no arrests or investigations were taking place.  Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) denounced the killers and said that religio-political parties never opposed polio vaccination.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2012.