Damage control: Opposition to requisition assembly session for minister’s assassination
MPA Nighat Orakzai says provincial govt not taking a clear stand on terrorism.
Previously, the opposition had requisitioned an assembly session following the twin attacks on All Saints Church. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
PESHAWAR:
Opposition parties in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) have decided to requisition a special session of the legislature to discuss the assassination of former law minister Israrullah Khan Gandapur.
This is the second such instance in the past few weeks when opposition groups have called for an assembly session to discuss militant attacks. Previously, the opposition had requisitioned an assembly session following the twin attacks on All Saints Church.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Nighat Orakzai said Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak will submit the application to the assembly secretariat today (Monday).
“Around 32 lawmakers from all opposition parties have signed this requisition,” Orakzai said.
Opposition leader Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) parliamentary leader Lutfur Rehman and PPP leader Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Baacha are among the lawmakers who signed the document.
Orakzai said that the sole objective of calling this session is to discuss the assassination of Israrullah Gandapur. “The provincial government is not taking a clear stand on the issue of terrorism,” she added.
JUI-F leader Shah Hussain Khan said provincial and federal governments are responsible for these attacks which have resulted in the deaths of three lawmakers in four months. He said there were intelligence reports about an attack in DI Khan but Gandapur had only one police official with him when the attack occurred.
Khan said repeated terrorist attacks have emboldened militants, adding the government should constitute a committee to hold talks with the Taliban and take tribesmen into confidence in order to put an end to the ongoing violence.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2013.
Opposition parties in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) have decided to requisition a special session of the legislature to discuss the assassination of former law minister Israrullah Khan Gandapur.
This is the second such instance in the past few weeks when opposition groups have called for an assembly session to discuss militant attacks. Previously, the opposition had requisitioned an assembly session following the twin attacks on All Saints Church.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Nighat Orakzai said Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak will submit the application to the assembly secretariat today (Monday).
“Around 32 lawmakers from all opposition parties have signed this requisition,” Orakzai said.
Opposition leader Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) parliamentary leader Lutfur Rehman and PPP leader Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Baacha are among the lawmakers who signed the document.
Orakzai said that the sole objective of calling this session is to discuss the assassination of Israrullah Gandapur. “The provincial government is not taking a clear stand on the issue of terrorism,” she added.
JUI-F leader Shah Hussain Khan said provincial and federal governments are responsible for these attacks which have resulted in the deaths of three lawmakers in four months. He said there were intelligence reports about an attack in DI Khan but Gandapur had only one police official with him when the attack occurred.
Khan said repeated terrorist attacks have emboldened militants, adding the government should constitute a committee to hold talks with the Taliban and take tribesmen into confidence in order to put an end to the ongoing violence.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2013.