KP Assembly condemns Indian shelling

PESHAWAR: Through a unanimous resolution, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Monday condemned the Indian forces’ indiscriminate shelling on the working boundary and asked the United Nations to take notice of the killing of innocent people on the Pakistani side of the border.
The joint resolution was moved by Pakistan People’s Party Member Provincial Assembly Nighat Yasmin Orakzai after she raised the issue on a point of order.
She requested the House to support her in tabling the resolution.
The resolution was signed by all parliamentary party leaders and MPAs of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Qaumi Watan Party and Awami National Party.
The resolution read that the people of Pakistan stand side by side with the armed forces of Pakistan at this critical juncture. It said they would offer all kind of sacrifices to defend the boundaries and integrity of Pakistan.
“The meaningful silence of the United Nations and other developed countries over the continuous violation of Pakistan’s border and shelling by the Indian border forces has caused concern among the people of Pakistan,” the resolution added.
The lawmakers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly also paid tribute to the martyrs of the 1965 War with India.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information (second amendment) Bill, 2015 was also tabled in the provincial assembly. It was aimed at adding the Provincial Assembly Secretariat along with the members of the assembly and the assembly itself into public body category.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was excluded from the Right to Information law, but now the general public can get any information about the provincial assembly and its members once the Bill is passed.
The move, apparently spearheaded by the provincial assembly Speaker Asad Qaider to hurriedly exclude the assembly from the Right to Information law, had been widely criticized by the civil society activists and sections of the media. The criticism had prompted the ruling PTI head Imran Khan to take notice of it and direct the provincial government and the Speaker to withdraw the earlier amendment and restore the previous law.
PTI MPA from Peshawar, Shaukat Yousafzai, who is a former provincial minister, moved it as the private members’ bill.
The assembly also passed various resolutions including one for expediting relief activities and provision of help to the flood-hit Chitral district, making proper arrangements for early and honourable return of displaced families to their hometowns in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), and allocating more funds for providing civic services to the tribal people living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.