ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar Friday proposed in the Senate a small parliamentary delegation to undertake a fact finding visit to peep into what was happening inside "Guantanamo Bay and Bagram like prisons and torture cells" in Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). On a point of public importance, he said that as a result of promulgation of the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation 2011, several dozen internment centres were set up in different parts of the country for those accused of militancy related offences. The regulation, he pointed out, was given backdated effect to encourage the law-enforcing agencies to bring into the open those caught during fight against militancy in Swat and Malakand. He noted, “It was a huge concession given to agencies so that those who were in their custody without trial were brought into the open and tried.” Babar, however, said that these internment centres have turned into Guantanamo Bay prisons and black holes from where no information trickled. He regretted that neither parliament nor Supreme Court had been provided updates about the offences the inmates were charged with whether being tried or not, how long incarcerated and how many died during captivity and how. Later talking to the media, he said that the disclosure made in the KP report before the Supreme Court early this week was even more disturbing. According to it, the army had been called in most of the districts in the KP under the 2011 Regulation suspending the writ jurisdiction of the high court under Article 245 (3) of the Constitution. “So one does not know for sure whether there are only 45 internment centres, as officially admitted, or there were many more Guantanamo Bay type prisons”, he said. Raising another issue of public importance, he drew the attention towards depriving the officers of the Military Lands and Cantonment (MLCS) cadre of the post of Director General for the past over a decade causing heart burning and demoralization of civilian cadre officers. He said that cadre officers of various civil service groups looked forward to reaching the top but in this case the highest cadre position was occupied by non-cadre officers without break for over a decade. Babar said, “Last time the Prime Minister while granting extension to the non-cadre officer had ordered that it would be last time to give extension after which the post shall stand reverted to cadre officers but it had not been done”. Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani referred the matter to relevant committee of the Senate to deliberate upon and report. Senators belonging to Balochistan that include Kulsum Perveen, Azam Musakheil and Dr Jehenzeb Jamaldi demanded of the government a permanent solution to the targeted killing of senior police officers in the province. They said that number of senior police officers who were killed during the last few years has 40, but the government is doing nothing to deal with the militants who are targeting the police on the behest of Pakistan’s enemies. Talking part in the debate on trichotomy of power, Senator Abdul Qayyum of ruling PML-N said that trichotomy of power remained confined to the books. In an obvious reference to his former institution, the pensioned general regretted that some institutions failed to perform their duties by remaining within the ambit of the constitution. He said that judiciary also failed to do justice as there exists parallel justice system in the country which shows judiciary is yet to go a long way to ensure speedy justice. He said, “Military courts, jirga system, and other means of justice in the country, indicate we should have one justice system in the country.” “The judicial activism must end, and there is a need to plug the loopholes with the executive,” he added. PPP’s Sehar Kamran believed the majority of the challenges Pakistan today faced with was because of the state institutions not functioning within their constitutional limits. She also blamed the non-state actors, which she termed as fifth pillar of the State for many problems. She charged among other things syllabi were changed and history distorted to develop a different narrative in Pakistan. Senator Taj Haider said “We must discourage the import lobby if want industrialization in the country.” Winding up the debate, federal minister for education and professional development Muhammad Baleeghur Rehman said the large-scale manufacturing index of Pakistan has improved like never before in history of Pakistan. “The unprecedented GDP growth rate was recorded at 5.28 percent last year…tax to GDP ratio has also increased. Tax receipts were recorded at Rs3112 billion in 2015-16 which further gone up last year,” he claimed. He said tax receipts of Rs4 trillion are expected in current fiscal year, adding debt servicing was also brought down from 37 to 29 percent. The House will now resume Monday.
