War on terror not against specific nationality, province: Talal

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry on Friday told the National Assembly that war on terror was not against any specific nationality, segment of society or province.

Responding to a call attention notice, he said thousands of combing operations had been carried out in Punjab and the security forces were taking action without any discrimination. He said portraying the terrorists in Pakhtun dress during a mock exercise in Multan was not meant to declare the entire people as terrorists.

Earlier, Shehryar Afridi of PTI moved Calling Attention Notice (CAN) to draw attention towards the mock exercises conducted in Multan, saying the Pakhtun people were portrayed as terrorists.

Talal said the exercise was held at Multan Railway Station and added that women in veil were also seen in such exercises, which did not mean insulting the veil or hijab. Meanwhile, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq banned the entry of two parliamentary secretaries Rubina Khalid and Rubina Khurshid in the House on their absence and not responding to the questions. During session on Friday, the speaker snubbed Rubina on not receiving the replies of questions raised by parliamentarians.

He also expressed his annoyance on the absence of minster and parliamentary secretary of information and warned that those not responding to the questions would be dealt strictly.

On the other hand, Minister of State for Maritime Affairs Chaudhry Jaffer Iqbal told the National Assembly that 30 railway stations were being upgraded at an estimated cost of Rs 2972.95 million.

Responding to a question of Dr Shazia Sobia, Jaffar said a total of Rs 144.605 million had also been spent on repair, renovation and reconstruction of various railway stations from Jan 1, 2012 to Dec 12, 2014.