ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah on Thursday asked for details from the Ministry of Interior and provincial governments on whether or not the names of members of the National and provincial assemblies and senators were on the list of travel restrictions.
The details were sought on a calling attention notice of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members, including opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Amir Dogar and Muhammad Riaz Khan, who sought the removal of parliamentarians’ names from the travel stop list, provisional national identification list (PNIL) and blacklist.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, speaking in the National Assembly, expressed the government’s determination to eradicate terrorism from the country. He said the previous government prioritised dialogue with terrorists, but the current government was active in uprooting terrorism.
In a rare gesture, the lower house of parliament unanimously adopted a resolution calling for taking notice of inappropriate and obscene language used by some members of the house against women political leaders. The resolution, moved by Minister for Housing and Works Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, urged the house to ensure the dignity of all women political leaders and workers.
Responding to a calling attention notice about an increase in suicide attacks in different parts of the country, Tarar said the government was determined to eradicate terrorism from the country. He said a draft of the National Counter-Violent Extremism 2024 Policy had been submitted to the cabinet for approval.
At the outset of the National Assembly proceedings on Thursday, the allied parties of the government — PPP and MQM-Pakistan — and the opposition came on the same page by objecting to the absence of ministers from the house.
Omar Ayub said that there was no minister in the house to reply to the calling attention notices related to suicide attacks and non-removal of PTI parliamentarians’ names from the travel stop list. “How much money was spent on this session?” he asked. The opposition leader said the government should inform the house whether the caretaker government or the incumbent government gave any bases to the superpower.
He said the government was standing on the clutches of form 47. He said there was no policy statement or any discussion on inflation in the country and not even on the presidential address. He dubbed Shehbaz a “rental prime minister’ and added that the PM of form 47 took the oath, made a speech in the house and fled instead of listening to his speech.
PPP MNA Agha Rafiullah said ministers were not present in the NA, but where were the officials who must be sitting in the galleries. PPP Chief Whip Ijaz Jhakrani said it was a ruling from the chair that the ministers whose business was to be taken up should be present in the house. Noor Alam Khan of the JUI-Fazl said the interior minister should be summoned if the business was related to him. MQM’s woman legislator Nighat Shakeel said if the ministers did not attend the NA proceedings, then what was need for so many ministers.
The NA deputy speaker issued directives to the ruling party chief whip to ensure the presence of respective ministers in the house.
Speaking on a calling attention notice, the information minister said Sindh chief minister had assured PM Shehbaz Sharif he would install a safe city network in Karachi to fight crimes and terrorism. He said the Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies were cooperating with the provinces to curb terrorism incidents.
About inclusion of names of opposition members in the PNIL and ECL, Ata Tarar said not the names of MPs but CNICs had been put on the travel ban list. “Give details and we will find out the reasons,” he told the opposition leader. Malik Amir Dogar told the house 11 members had given their names to the speaker but nothing had happened.
On a point of order, PTI-backed SIC member Shehryar Afridi raised the issue of non-provision of gas to the people of Kohat and said what was the reason that some provinces were being treated stepmotherly by the federal government.
Minority member of PMLN Khael Das Kohistan said on a point of order that the Indian prime minister made a hateful speech against Muslims. “I want to speak as a Pakistani and a Hindu that Hinduism does not speak against any religion,” he said while condemning the speech.
In the meanwhile, journalists staged a walkout from the National Assembly in protest against the abduction of brother of senior journalist Mateen Haider from Rawalpindi. Professor Arfeen Haider left for college from home but was abducted on his way in Rawalpindi.
The deputy speaker sent Dr Tariq Fazal and Ijaz Jhakrani to the press gallery, who assured the media persons that the matter would be taken up with the quarters concerned.