Avoid being party to Gulf conflict, Opp tells govt

LAHORE

Slamming the PML-N government for its failure on diplomatic front, the Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed on Monday warned Islamabad to avoid being a party in Saudi Arabia-Iran conflict.

Speaking on a point of order in Punjab Assembly, Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed, while voicing serious concern over the tilt of US President Donald Trump stated that during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, he termed India the victim of terrorism but ignored Pakistan and its sacrifices in the war on terror.

He also stated that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should not have attended the moot in Saudi Arabia. Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed, amid anti-government slogans raised by the Opposition benches said that Trump was acting as a ‘Daada’ (don) of this world. After the decision of International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding Kalbhushan Jhadav, the RAW spy and speech of Trump in which he had ignored Pakistan, the nation had faced great embarrassment.

The Opposition leader urged the government to play the role of an arbitrator rather than becoming a part of Saudi Arabia-Iran conflict.

Minister for Specialised Health Care and Medical Education, Khawaja Salman Rafique during the question hour session told the House that the government had already dealt strictly with kidney mafia and it was also planning to enhance the duration of punishment for the elements involved in the crime. The House was told that the existing punishment for the illegal kidney transplant was 10 years but the government was planning to enhance it further. The provincial minister, while responding to a question put up by Jamaat-e-Islami Parliamentary leader Dr Waseem Akhter said that the perception kidney transplant was going unchecked in private hospitals wasn’t true.

He said the law to bar this heinous trade exists in the form of Punjab Human Organ Transplant Authority under which the kidney transplant was only allowed in the hospitals registered under PHOTA.

Besides, he told that every district, a committee named the District Vigilance Committee headed by a deputy commissioner was working and during last five years, 21 cases had been registered over illegal kidney transplant. He said after the law had come into existence, the law enforcement agencies, including Police, Intelligence Bureau and Special Branch were actively working to curb illegal practices in this regard.

Punjab Assembly on Monday once again couldn’t complete its business after it failed to meet the quorum. The quorum was pointed out by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Asif Mehmood and the House failed to meet it after which it was adjourned till Tuesday (today) by Speaker Rana Mohammad Iqbal Khan.Rana Arshed, the chief whip of PML-N, once again looked helpless in maintaining the quorum during the PA session, which, for last few sessions, has now become a routine.