Peshawar tragedy: Opposition threatens to boycott concluding speeches

Senators demand PM or Nisar wind up the debate; seek briefing on counter terror steps

ISLAMABAD:

Opposition lawmakers in the Senate threatened on Tuesday to boycott the concluding speeches on the debate on the Peshawar school massacre if the prime minister or the interior minister did not show up in the house to wind up the debate.

Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said that the opposition parties were ready to cooperate with the government for eliminating the scourge of terrorism but it depended on the government’s seriousness about the issue.



He said the opposition respected Minister of State for Interior Balighur Rehman but the opposition would not allow him to speak in the Senate as Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan must wind up the debate on Wednesday.

“The House must be taken into confidence by the prime minister or the interior minister. We will not accept any person other than them as we want to know about the serious measures that are being taken to deal with militants,” he commented.

“On one side, the government wants support and cooperation from the opposition to tackle the challenge of militancy, and on the other hand, it is non-serious about resolving such an important issue,” Aitzaz Ahsan said.

He made the government realise that it would be the first beneficiary if the battle against terrorists was won and it would be better if the prime minister showed up and took the house into confidence.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani said that parliament was strength of the prime minister and it would be better for him to conclude the debate over the Peshawar tragedy. He asked the Senate chairman to constitute a committee of senators for monitoring the progress in implementation on the National Action Plan against terrorism.



Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Col (retd) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi pointed out that continuous absence of Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan showed that the government has sidelined the upper house of parliament.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal said he has no words for the condemnation of the Peshawar incident as no example could be found in history.

PPP Senator Saeed Ghani stated, “Terrorism could not be removed through formation of military courts, rather it could be handled through effective counter terrorism policy.”

Taj Haider of PPP urged for preventive measures to avoid recurrence of more terror incidents, adding that “intelligence network should also be made more efficient and people should be asked to be vigilant.”

Another PPP Senator Robina Khalid demanded blocking of all unregistered SIMs as they were being used by terrorists in most of their terror activities.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2014.