Senate strongly condemns genocide of Rohingya Muslims

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution against the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar and noted a planned genocide of Rohingya Muslims was underway. The the resolution, read out by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, called for declaring June 12 (Friday) as a national day of solidarity with the Myanmar Muslims.
The Senate, through the resolution, said that the government should take up the issue with the United Nations (UN) as well as the international community and the human rights bodies should also take notice of the genocide of Rohingya Muslims.
The resolution further stated that the government should also take the matter to the International Court of Justice. The House also proposed that a Pakistani delegation should be sent to Myanmar to communicate Pakistan’s stance on the issue.
The Senate began the budget debate, as the treasury described the budget as pro-poor while the opposition questioned how it could be so when rates of pulses, milk, yogurt, meat and poultry items had been increased and secondhand shoes and clothes were also taxed.
The House witnessed a token walkout by the opposition parties, barring the PTI and BNP-Mengal, on alleged insufficient allocation in the budget for the western part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It was led by Awami National Party’s Ilyas Bilour. MQM senators also made an exit from the Senate against what they alleged anti-people budget. The budget speech was telecast live on the state-run television and broadcast on Radio Pakistan.
The otherwise dry proceedings were marked by pleasant and apt reference to revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz by Leader of Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan, who opened the debate, and Federal Minister Mushahid Ullah Khan. Their speeches descended into a political saga of charges and counter-charges.
During his over an hour-long speech, Aitzaz tried to draw a parallel between then finance minister Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and said both reflected the philosophy of Zia’s regime.
“The new budget is again an attempt to further strengthen the class system in Pakistan,” he charged. He alleged Dar’s budget philosophy was based on four syndromes: the slippery deter syndrome, Taj Mahal and Sher Shah Suri syndrome of building large constructions, massive use of construction material and launching metro bus project worth Rs45 billion, which the opposition believed its cost was much higher.
Aitzaz claimed with this amount, clean drinking water and sewerage system could have been launched for kutchi abadis and it should have started by doing so in Islamabad’s slum areas.
The opposition leader continued that with this amount, schools could have been built, health facilities and electricity provided to far-flung areas. “Rs2 billion subsidy will be given annually to keep the metro bus running and this means, a ticket of Rs100 is being given to commuter against Rs20 payment. The rulers’ priority is not the masses’ welfare,” he charged.
Coming back to the syndromes, Aitzaz said the third syndrome was raj and the fourth was successful tax evasion syndrome of the rulers. He said during 1995-1997, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was then owner of 11 industrial units and foundries in his declared assets had paid Rs577 income tax. Even today, he went on to claim he (Aitzaz) paid more tax then the combined tax paid by prime minister, Punjab chief minister, minister for interior, minister for defence and some other ministers.
According to the FBR website’s active taxpayer list, there were 835220 tax payers in 2013, which came down to 726107 next year and this how he described the successful tax evasion syndrome of the present regime. He asked Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to change his name after the PML-N government failed to end loadshedding in two years, whereas he had promised its end in six months after coming to power.
Responding to his speech, Mushahid Ullah of the ruling PML-N rejected Aitzaz claim that wheat subsidy for Gilgit-Baltistan had been withdrawn in the budget and read out from the budget speech of the finance minister that it had been increased to Rs6.45 billion.
He questioned was not the PPP leadership nurtured during the eras of Sikandar Mirza and General Ayub Khan. He regretted Aitzaz peeping into the past and playing to galleries. He also said who had made Zia the army chief.
Mushahid Ullah asked Aitzaz why not he referring to Asif Zardari, Pervaiz Ashraf, Yusuf Raza Gilani, Senator Gulzar with regards to payment of taxes.He reminded the opposition leader that it was PPP government, which increased burden of loans from Rs6000 billion to Rs14,000 billion when it completed its term in 2013. He made mention of a PPP activist, who was sold a commercial plot worth Rs7 billion for merely Rs350 million, who could pocket just 3000 votes in 2013 elections.
The federal minister said that PPP government had devastated all the institutions and referred to Pakistan Steel Mills: its production was 3 per cent when PML-N came to power and today it was 60 per cent and in two months, it would reach 70 per cent and then it would start registering profit.
He said when PML-N formed government, PIA was operating 16 planes and today, its strength had reached 28. The minister noted it was during PPP tenure that Pakistan Railways had no oil to continue operations, being an example of its governance.
“It is the budget of the ruling elite for the ruling elite. It is the budget of the rich, for the rich, by the rich. Students want books, and the rulers talk about metro buses. The poor segments are deprived of health and education facilities,” alleged Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, who later led his party’s walkout from the House.
He castigated the government for abandoning the National Action Plan and asked why the government had not dealt with seminaries promoting militancy, intolerance and did not eliminate hate literature from seminaries and masajid. He said terrorists were hiding and everybody knew about their hideouts, but the government was not taking action against them.
PTI’s Nauman Wazir charged the budget was myopic, having no vision and was aimed at winning 2018 elections.Others who spoke, included Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Abdul Qayyum, Jehanzeb Jamaldeni and Khush Bakht Shujaat. Jamaldeni, who hails from Balochistan, urged the government to launch projects for water storage and large reservoirs and make full use of the proposed economic corridor.