Islamabad: Opposition staged a walk-out from Senate on Thursday over the government’s failure to provide information to families about the missing Pakistanis in Mina.
PPP Senator Aitizaz Ahsan along with other opposition members walked out of the upper house saying the government has failed to give a satisfactory reply about the killed and missing Pakistanis of the Mina stampede tragedy.
Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani asked Senator Pervaiz Rashid and Iqbal Zafar Jagrah to woo and bring the protesting senators back to the house, but they failed to bring them back.
Ahsan said that the government has left Pakistani pilgrims alone in tough times and it was trying to hush up the matter by curbing information through the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.
He said that at least 300 Pakistanis were either missing or martyred in the stampede. “Had the government ordered the ministry to put pictures and thumb impressions of the pilgrims on the website, the Nadra would have solved the mystery”.
Senator Pervez Rashid said that the government will fully facilitate the families to get bodies of their relatives.
The federal minister said that the pilgrims had cursed the previous government for irregularities on its part. The opposition walked out after Rashid made the remarks. Senate Deputy Chairman said that the nation should wait for a report by Saudi Arabia. “There must not be any politics over Mina stampede,” he said.
Meanwhile, PPP Senator Aitizaz Ahsan while talking to media outside the parliament house demanded of the government to step down “if they can’t bring back the bodies of the pilgrims”.
Senator Noman Wazir said that the government has kept a mum on the issue as they have personal interests with the Saudis government.
ANP Senator Shahi Syed said that politicians should avoid politics on the Mina stampede as it was a humanitarian issue while the government was not giving attention to the matter.