National Assembly session: House mourns murder of MNA

Lawmakers demand an independent probe into Tahira Asif’s killing.

ISLAMABAD:

The members of the National Assembly on Friday expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Tahira Asif and sympathised with the bereaved family.

In the beginning, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq requested members to offer fatiha for the slain member of the House. The lawmakers strongly condemned the tragic incident in which she was injured and later succumbed to her injuries.

The members of the assembly and speaker paid rich tributes to Tahira Asif and praised her parliamentary services throughout her career, saying, “She greatly contributed to the proceedings of the House and was an honourable lady.”

The MNAs have also demanded a neutral investigation into the incident and called for the arrest of the culprits behind this heinous crime. They emphasised the need to eradicate radicalism and politically motivated violent traditions from society for establishment of peace.

All political forces in the country, military leadership and religious leaders should sit in a huddle to formulate a strategy to move forward and to save the country from becoming home to barbarism, demanded the MNAs.

Leader of the opposition in NA Syed Khursheed Shah called upon the government to show determination in dealing such persons with iron hand, saying, “the number of such violent incidents is rising by the day and nobody considers Pakistan a safe place to live which is an alarming situation for all of us.”

Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain once again assured the lower House on behalf of the Federal and Punjab governments that prompt investigations will be carried out into the incident. He said the culprits involved in this crime will be arrested and brought to justice without any discrimination.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2014.