Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar speaks during a news conference in Islamabad. PHOTO: AFP
Speaking to parliamentarians at the National Assembly, Nisar said a committee with members from the opposition benches should be formed to investigate if he refused to review the figures or misbehaved. “I’m not afraid of being held accountable,” he said.
“As soon as opposition members refused to accept the figures, I told them I will ask the K-P government to recheck them; it is on record,” Nisar said, adding that the provincial government was requested to check again.
He said the K-P government stands by the previous figures.
The interior minister further criticised the opposition members for creating a ruckus over the issue even though he had agreed to look into the matter.
Senate episode
A war of words broke out between PPP Senator Raza Rabbani and Nisar on October 30 after Nisar presented figures of casualties from terrorist attacks – stats which were swiftly challenged by an ANP senator who called them a “pack of lies”.
PPP senator Aitzaz Ahsan further asked the interior minister to take back the statistics and return with correct numbers.
Nisar remained unmoved in his seat and this response triggered a heated altercation among the members of the two benches.
Later the combined opposition excluding MQM walked out of the house. The opposition members have boycotted senate sessions since then and have also moved a privilege motion against Nisar.
Letter
The interior minister - in a letter written to Senate chairman - complained that the opposition members are trying to drag him into a controversy that he has neither created nor is he responsible for.
“I am not confronting anybody, I am not fighting anybody but I will fight till my last breath in the defence of truth and what is right,” Nisar wrote to Senate Chairman Syed Nayyar Bokhari.
COMMENTS (4)
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Does the KB government also standby the figures being questioned? What are Punjab's casualty figures due to terrorism during the past 5 years? This is should not be difficult to verify. Data base needs to be built for transparency for each province.
None of the main characters enjoy a reputation for truthfulness while there is no verifiable data. The truth is whatever the Minister calls the truth.
i tend to believe the figures presented in the senate in the absence of independent observers. The tribal areas are out of bound for the press therefore you will have to rely on what the political agent says.