Islamabad  - The high treason case against General (r) Pervez Musharraf and recent remarks of self-exiled MQM chief Altaf Hussain about Sindh evoked sharp reaction in the Senate on Monday.
The Upper House, which resumed with Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, witnessed lively proceedings during discussion on commenced motion on political and security situation in the country.
Taking part in the discussion, Senator Farhatullah Babar said that security situation in country would worsen after withdrawal of Nato forces leading to empowerment of Taliban in Afghanistan in an environment of both Pakistan and Afghanistan believing that their worst enemies have sanctuaries in the other country.
The TTP almost spontaneously rejected the renewed talks offer made by cabinet committee on national security last month, he said. To dramatise its rejection, the TTP also launched within hours a brazen suicide attack on soldiers in North Waziristan and on imambargah in Gracey lines in Rawalpindi thereby leaving no doubt about its intentions. A complex security situation is thus in the making, he warned.
“The moment of truth has arrived and we must contend with the cross border movement of militants with impunity,” Farhatullah remarked, adding that after the appointment of Fazlullah as TTP chief both Pakistan and Afghanistan can claim for the first time that their worst enemies have sanctuaries in the other country. He said that cross border militancy was related to the security establishment that needs to be overseen through better institutional mechanisms.
Lala Abdul Rauf said that it is the responsibility of the elected representatives of all the political parties to work hard for provision of better security to the masses. PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that law and order situation and price hike have made the life of the people miserable. He said the government should pay attention to resolve the problems of the general public.
Chaudhry Shujaat criticised the government for singling out Musharraf and they way former Chief of Army Staff was being dubbed as a traitor. He was of the view that if the government was sincere in stopping military intervention once for all, it should start the high treason case from October12, 1999. Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri also demanded the government start high treason case against former military ruler from the day he toppled an elected government and abrogated the constitution in 1999.
Senior PML-N leader Mushahidullah Khan said it is first time in the history that government has shown courage to try a dictator in the court of law for playing with the constitution. He said the government wants to close doors for the opportunists in future. He said Musharraf's case is subjudice and the court will decide his fate.
Many members of the ruling PML-N felt annoyed over criticism regarding security situation of the country. Mushahidullah said that government is making all out efforts to improve the law and order situation in the country. He said due to the measures of the government the situation has improved in Karachi and improving in rest of the country.
Colonel Tahir Hussain Mashhadi said that provision of law and order is the basic responsibility of the government. He said the general public is disappointed about the law and order situation and increasing incidents of terrorism and sectarian violence. Others who spoke on the motion were Khalida Parveen‚ Shahi Syed‚ Muhammad Saleh Shah‚ Sehar Kamran and Mukhtiar Ahmad Dhamrah.
Earlier, the House also witnessed tense situation when MQM Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan on a point of order said that Altaf Hussain's remarks about Sindh were reported out of context. On this, a number of PPP and ANP members including Maula Bukhsh Chandio, Saeed Ghani, Karim Khawaja strongly reacted and silenced the MQM senator.
The House also discussed a motion moved by Haji Adeel regarding non-shifting of headquarters of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) from Karachi to Islamabad. Adeel said that when Pakistan was created the capital was in Karachi so the headquarters of all the federal institutions and departments were in Karachi. But latter they were shifted to new capital‚ Islamabad, except that of SPB’s which should also be shifted to boost the economy. Afrasiab Khattak supported his assertion.
But Colonel Tahir Mashhadi said that Karachi is the business hub of the country; therefore‚ SBP Headquarters should not be shifted. He said there is a need to improve the functional capacity of the SBP. M Hamza said that headquarters of all the banks are in Karachi‚ because it is centre of the commercial activities. He said the Headquarter of the SBP at Karachi is most suitable.
Earlier, the Twenty-Second (Constitutional) Amendment Bill‚ 2013 seeking amendments in articles 177, 193 and 240 was jointly moved by Syeda Sughra Imam and Mian Raza Rabbani which was referred to the House Special committee. The House was adjourned until Wednesday.