Once again lawmakers in the Balochistan Assembly have demanded setting up a fact-finding committee to probe increasing terrorist attacks in the province. The lawmakers have expressed their reservations over the state of law and order in the province and demanded immediate action by the government.
Nasarullah Zerey of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) expressed serious concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the province and said that during the past 10 months more than a dozen terrorist attacks and bomb blasts took place in Quetta, Loralai, Chaman, Qila Saifullah and other towns and cities of the province.
Provincial opposition lawmakers demanded setting up of a fact-finding committee to probe increasing terrorist attacks in Balochistan.https://t.co/0SXKFyG8jl
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) October 14, 2019
He said the government had allocated over Rs40 billion for law and order but the situation was not satisfactory. “The real culprits behind these terrorist activities and crimes in Balochistan should be exposed,” Mr. Zerey said.
In August this year, during a debate on the law and order situation in the province, lawmakers in the provincial assembly recalled that three bomb attacks occurred in the heart of the city recently in which over a dozen lives were lost and up to 60 people suffered injuries. The session in the absence of Speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo and Deputy Speaker Sardar Babar Khan Musakhail was chaired by a member of the panel of chairmen, Mir Ahmed Nawaz Baloch.
Read more: Will Baluchistan get its rights in Naya Pakistan?
MPAs Malik Naseer Shahwani, Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, Finance Minister Mir Zahoor Buledi, Syed Fazal Agha, Leader of Opposition Malik Sikandar and others expressed serious concern over failure of the police to arrest any of the terrorists involved in this inhuman act despite passage of three years.
Qadir Nayal of the Hazara Democratic Party, Akhtar Hussain Langove, provincial ministers Zamarak Khan Piralizai, Saleem Ahmed Khosa and Malik Naseer Ahmed Shahwani spoke at length on the law and order issue.
Members on both sides of the aisle underlined the need for unity among opposition and treasury benches in the fight against terrorism. “We have buried more than 80 bodies of leaders and workers of the BNP-Mengal who became victims of terrorism,” Akhtar Hussain Langove said.
Opposition members in the Balochistan Assembly demands a fact-finding committee should be formed to probe into increasing terror attacks happening in the province.https://t.co/cA9MWUEAtk
— The Express Tribune (@etribune) October 14, 2019
Qadir Nayal said that since 1999, over 2,000 people from the Hazara community had lost their lives in terrorist attacks. “The government should set up a commission for probing the genocide of the Hazara community,” Mr. Nayal suggested. Provincial minister Mir Saleem Ahmed Khosa said that hundreds of security personnel from the police, Frontier Corps and Pakistan Army had laid down their lives in the line of duty to protect the masses.
He said the situation had improved to some extent which was the result of the sacrifices rendered by the security forces. He regretted that the opposition never appreciated the sacrifices of the security personnel.
Separatist elements in Balochistan targeted security personnel multiple times. Resultantly, many soldiers embraced martyrdom
Implementation of NAP
Prime Minister Imran Khan also said during a meeting of the federal cabinet that his government was taking action against the banned organization in the best national interest. PM Khan reportedly made it clear that anybody who challenges the writ of the state shall not be spared.
It is worth noting that while chairing a PTI’s parliamentary party meeting, the premier clarified that the crackdown on banned militant outfits was an internal security matter and the government had taken the decision without any external pressure.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that the PTI government was determined to implement the NAP across the country. Federal Minister was in a TV talk show on a private channel when he made it clear that the government has made of its mind up that national discourse in the country needs to be reformed to make Pakistan a truly welfare state.
Read more: The days of neglect for Baluchistan are over: PM Khan
In March this year, Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has assured the government of full cooperation in the implementation of the NAP. Local media reported that the Pakistan Army top brass agreed to supplement the government’s efforts to implement the NAP, and expressed their resolve to defend the motherland against any misadventure or aggression from across the border.
Army chief said while addressing the 219th Corps Commanders Conference at the General Headquarters that Pakistan is on the positive trajectory of peace, stability, and progress. “No one can make us budge through the use or threat of use of force. Similarly, policy and the right of use of force shall remain the prerogative of the state alone”, the army chief said while discussing the progress of NAP.