QUETTA - Members of the Balochistan Assembly continued to express their concern over the worsening law and order situation in the province, recommending for holding a high-level meeting to devise a strategy to curb mounting lawlessness in the province.
The Assembly session started with Speaker Muhammad Aslam Bhootani in the chair here on Thursday.
Soon after the recitation of the Holy Quran, Provincial Minister for Irrigation Sardar Aslam Bezinjo on a point of order said looting passenger buses and kidnapping of drivers had become a routine matter on Quetta-Karachi Highway.
‘The criminals use vehicles having logos of Ministers while committing different crimes but there is no authority to bring them to book’, he said, adding, that Chief Minister Balochistan should take the issue of law and order seriously and ensure Quetta-Karachi Highway for safe travelling and stop kidnapping for ransom incidents.
Provincial senior Parliamentarian Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel supporting the point of Bezinjo said kidnapping for ransom had become a profitable business that had made the life of people miserable.
Provincial Health Minister Ainullah Shams regretted that it had been said that some Provincial Ministers were involved in the kidnapping for ransom incidents. ‘This is a very serious issue and it should be investigated besides Chief Minister should unmask such Ministers and file a reference against them’, he said, adding, action should also be taken against vehicles with tinted glasses roaming freely throughout the province.
He said there was a number of show rooms in Quetta where smuggled vehicles were being sold openly but authorities concerned were taking no action against them.
Expressing his serious concern over the law and order, Provincial Senior Minister Maulana Abdul Wasay said that we should not condemn these incidents because we were in the government. ‘Issuing condemnation statements is tantamount to hoodwinking the people’, he remarked.
Maulana Wasay said Provincial Home Minister had levelled allegations that some Ministers were involved in kidnapping for ransom incidents and other criminal acts.
He urged that if really lawmakers were involved then stern action should be taken against them.
‘It is absolutely wrong saying law and order is better in Balochistan than other provinces’, he added.
He recommended that Chief Minister for holding a high-level meeting and seek information from Home Minister about the Ministers involved in criminal activities.
If anyone found guilty legal action should be taken against him, he added.
Citing a recent kidnapping of a JUI’s leader in Quetta, Maulana Wasay said that criminal gangs were so powerful that they were sparing nobody even politicians.
The House also disposed of a resolution asking provincial government for financial assistance to poor students studying in Army Institute of Medical Sciences after assurance that the issue would be resolved in the Cabinet.
Tabling the resolution, Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel welcomed the formation of Army Institute of Medical Sciences in Balochistan, stating that there were poor students who could not bear the education fees thus provincial government provide financial assistance to them so that problems of these students could be resolved.
He said that it was the second medical institution in the province where the 80 per cent seats had been allocated for civilians but on other hand the teachers were being targeted in the province.
Provincial Minister Abdul Rehman Jamali recommended that all MPAs should allocate Rs 2.5 million from their developments funds.
Sardar Aslam Bezinjo, Rahila Durrani, Engineer Zamarak Khan and Habibur Rehman Hassani said that maximum enrolment of poor students belonging to Balochistan should be ensured in the medical institution.
Finance Minister Mir Asim Kurd Gaillo assured that the issue would be discussed in the Cabinet and if required funds would also be given for it.
Upon which, the chair disposed of the resolution.