Lahore-Expressing dissatisfaction over the official report on the Murree incident and terming the subsequent administrative action against 15 officers mere eyewash, Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz Sharif Friday called for the formation of a parliamentary committee to probe the matter afresh to get at the real culprits responsible for the tragedy.
Initiating general discussion in the Punjab Assembly on the Murree incident, Hamza Shehbaz said there should be no politics on the Murree tragedy because it had a human aspect.
He termed the official report mere eyewash and a joke with the nation. Hamza questioned the administrative response to the incident and grilled Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar for not taking prompt action to save the trapped citizens. He told the House that the government did not take precautionary measures despite warning from the meteorological office on January 5 about the bad weather conditions in Murree.
“Where was your helicopter at that time which takes you from Bani Gala to the Prime Minister house every day? Why did it not fly from Bani Gala to Murree [to rescue the citizens]?” he asked. The Opposition leader lamented that the chief minister was busy attending the party’s organisational meeting when the people needed his attention.
“Listen, Mr Usman Buzdar! You will have to be held accountable for the Murree tragedy,” he stated, adding that he would not sit idle until the persons responsible for the unfortunate happening were identified and punished. He said that he spent sleepless nights over the Sahiwal and Murree tragedies.
He said that snow removing machinery was purchased during the tenure of Shehbaz Sharif, but the drivers were missing on that day. Hamza also recalled the Sahiwal incident and said that the culprits had not been punished yet.
Talking about inflation, he said that Pakistan was the third most expensive country in the world according to international surveys. He also lambasted the government over shortage of urea fertilizer in Punjab which, he said, was casting aspersions on the government’s inability to act against the mafias controlling the supply of sugar and wheat.
Reacting to the Opposition leader’s outburst against the government both inside and outside the Assembly, Law Minister Basharat Raja termed his conduct undemocratic. “It had been agreed with representatives of the Opposition leader that his speech will be telecast live for five minutes, but still he staged a drama outside the Assembly,” said the minister. Basharat Raja dubbed the Opposition leader a child, crying for the moon to play with. He also termed the Murree incident a natural calamity. He said that nothing had been concealed from the people in the Murree report. “Those held responsible have been duly punished true to the promise made by the chief minister,” he observed.
Basharat Raja also reminded the Opposition leader of the Model Town incident, saying that the PML-N government was not even ready to register the FIR of the 14 martyrs who received straight bullets.
Talking about the Anarkali blast, he said that two suspects had been arrested within 24 hours. He added that the Bilal Yasin shooting incident was a blind case, but the shooter had been arrested and red notices had also been issued for arrest of the mastermind who was abroad.