Senators call for prompt, fitting response

Senators urge govt to retaliate against Nato intrusions in befitting manner.

ISLAMABAD: Senators from the opposition benches on Thursday urged the government to retaliate against Nato intrusions into Pakistani territory in a befitting manner, calling for cutting off their supply route.

Urging the government to give a prompt military response, Prof Khurshid of the Jamaat-e-Islami said that all countries reserved the right to defend their borders against foreign incursions.

Condemning the Nato attacks, PML-Q’s Tariq Azim said that the government “must sever their supply line until they agree to desist from such violations”.

Referring to a recent statement by the interior minister about prompt action, he questioned why attacks were being tolerated at all. “Is the blood of our soldiers so cheap that we cannot even shoot down two helicopters,” Azim said.

He also urged the government to categorically tell the nation whether violations are part of a tacit understanding or not. “The nation must be told real facts,” he added.

Speaking on a point of order, ANP’s Zahid Khan called for adopting a resolution, asking the United States to resolve the issue of illegal Pakistanis residing in US. He said that after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, all the illegal Haiti nationals were given nationality in the US.

He said the US should be asked that the issue of illegal migrants should be resolved on a priority basis.

PML-N’s Syed Zafar Ali Shah said that the suspension of gas supply to Punjab has resulted in closure of several industries. He said although the Punjab chief minister has taken up the matter with the federal government, the Senate chairman should also instruct the centre to resume the gas supply to the province.

Meanwhile, senators across the political divide criticised the media for portraying them as tax defaulters and initiating “a malicious campaign” against them.

ANP’s Haji Adeel initiated a debate when he cited various media reports. Other legislators agreed with his assertions and said that they regularly paid their taxes and such allegations were part of a malicious campaign against them.

Zahid Khan, also of the ANP, and other lawmakers also spoke on points of order and clarified their positions following media reports that the prime minister, finance minister and as many as 25 ministers of the current cabinet have not been paying taxes.

Kulsoom Parveen was of the view that it was the duty of the ECP to verify non-taxpayer parliamentarians and not the media.

Minister for Science and Technology Azam Swati said that his business was based in the United States and he was a regular taxpayer abroad and in Pakistan.

Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar clarified that parliamentarians’ tax on their salaries was deducted at source. She said if there was any mistake in the record of assets of parliamentarians, the Election Commission should rectify it because most of the lawmakers had been filing their assets but their names kept appearing in media along with other defaulters.

She said that publishing misleading news reports was “not a good practice”. The minister said that people criticising others for not paying taxes also need to pay their own taxes on assets worth billions of rupees.

Senate Chairman Farooq H Naik wanted the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to submit details of tax-payers and chronic defaulters.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2010.