ISLAMABAD: Outgoing MQM parliamentary leader in the Senate Col (R) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi Wednesday said it hurts when on issues like the missing persons and political engineering one hears about involvement of the establishment.
Making his farewell speech in the House, the veteran lawmaker said that when old soldiers like him, who had been completely away from politics during service, hear about such involvement, it really hurts them.
The MQM senator said he heard that judges don’t speak but their judgements do, but unfortunately here, judgements are silent, but judges speak, and such things were not good for the future of Pakistan.“When we grew up, when hear and read about judges quoting Aristotle, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Confucius, but now it is very sad that Mario Puzo is quoted, who penned Godfather novel,” he maintained.
Senator Mashhadi emphasised that there was a need to pay attention to what comments were being made about the politicians, parliamentarians and the Parliament itself. He regretted that while the Parliament was supreme but when it would and all and sundry give up powers, then the most powerful would gain more power. “When we don’t want to empower ourselves and look for powers to appoint an SHO and make someone a councillor then there is a need to improve our own standards,” he contended.
“It happens when the executive of 200 million people becomes weak itself and can’t remove 200 people and approaches the Army to talk to them and remove them,” he lamented.
The ANP Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, who remained member of the House for 20 years and was also retiring, mostly talked on Pakistan’s political history and hit the elite class (Ashrafia) hard and blamed them for the fall of Dhaka.
He maintained that neither Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, nor Punjab or President General Yahya were behind break-up of Pakistan, but only the elite class, and alleged that the Justice Munir judgement had set the first step towards the fall of Dhaka. He also claimed how late Khan Wali Khan was brought back from London to meet Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and play his role in settlement of the crisis, who went to Dhaka and was taken to Sh Mujib’s residence on his vehicle, as the situation did not allow him to use any other vehicle. But then unfortunately, he noted, dramatic things happened, which led to dismemberment of Pakistan.