PPP protests, walks out of NA over Nakyal incident

Minister asks AJK PM to bring record, says he will do the same and accept whatever decision is given by Khursheed Shah

ISLAMABAD: The parliamentarians of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday registered a strong protest in the National Assembly against the killing of a PPP worker during a clash with rival party workers in Nakyal, Kotli, on Sunday.

The PPP members, who attended the National Assembly proceedings wearing black ribbons on their arms, also staged a token walkout from the House.Speaking on a point of order, Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah alleged that the federal government was adopting policies that could take national politics to the times of the 1980s and 1990s. “The federal government wants to control the situation in its favour by using power,” he said.

He termed the killing of PIA employees in Karachi and a PPP worker in Kotli glaring examples of terrorism, saying that through state terrorism in Azad Kashmir, the federal government was supporting the statements of the Indian government.The opposition leader said the PML-N leadership had not learnt any lesson from the past when they were sent behind bars and it was following the the path of torture against its opponents.

Referring to the Model Town, Lahore, killings, he said neither was there a transparent inquiry into the tragedy nor was punishment given to the culprits. He said a federal minister had used derogatory remarks for the AJK prime minister which, he said, were highly regrettable.

Responding to the point of order, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid said the PPP rally in Kotli, Azad Kashmir, used provocative language and as a consequence the unfortunate incident took place.

He said the AJK prime minister had ordered a judicial inquiry but he did not wait for its findings and announced a black day for Monday fearing that investigations might find a link of the incident to his provocative language.

The minister, amid uproar from the opposition benches, regretted that the AJK Police had started arresting PML-N workers. He said the PML-N had full confidence in the judicial commission.

The information minister said the Kotli incident took place due to irresponsible statements given by the AJK prime minister. “When I was on the way to AJK, I read headlines quoting the AJK prime minister using provocative language against federal ministers but I still took the matter lightly,” he said.

Pervaiz Rashid said that hewas nominating the opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah as the judge. “The AJK prime minister should bring evidence and I would also come up with proof regarding the Kotli incident,” he said. “Whatever decision you take would be acceptable to both the sides.”

The PPP members continued their protest during the speech of the information minister saying he was telling facts.Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah resumed his speech on a motion to discuss the situation arising out of the failure to lower oil prices in accordance with the international market and imposition of the Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

He said it was a unanimous decision of the opposition parties that the federal government should refrain from the privatisation of national flag carrier. He said the government was not passing on benefits of reduction in crude oil prices to the masses and was busy in filling its kitty.

He proposed the formation of a parliamentary committee to study in detail the income of PIA and its expenditure, expressing the view that salaries of low paid employees constituted just 15 percent of the total expenditure of the airliner.The leader of the opposition also pointed out that privatisation was intended to retire the national debt but the country was still paying Rs1,300 billion aspayment of interest on debt.