News
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
MQM walks out of NA over Karachi killingsISLAMABAD: The government, on Tuesday, faced embarrassment in the National Assembly when one of its coalition partner, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), walked out from the session over the recent spate of target killings in Karachi.
Before staging the walkout, MQM’s Deputy Parliamentary Leader Haider Abbas Rizvi, on a point of order, sought the attention of the chair towards Karachi which, he said, has been left at the mercy of terrorist elements. “We have informed the government about worsening law and order situation at the hands of such elements but to no avail,” Rizvi said while noting that terror acts are aimed at destabilising Karachi, which is the backbone of national economy.
MQM’s members walked out from the session for some time and returned to the House after assurances from Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani that action would be taken against terror elements in Karachi. Later, Syed Khursheed Shah, speaking on the Karachi issue, condemned the loss of precious lives in target killing and said that security issues in Karachi did not concern the MQM alone but affected the whole nation.
“The government is committed to taking action against the elements which have disturbed the city’s peace,” Shah informed the House and promised that he would talk to the Sindh governor, chief minister Sindh and interior minister for effective steps against the people involved in target killings. A PML-N lawmaker from Balochistan, Abdul Qadir Baloch, on a point of order, pointed out the police torture on police surgeon Dr Baqir Shah, who had carried out the postmortem of Chechens killed in Kharotabad. He urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the incident. He remarked that Balochistan was burning but Centre kept its eyes and ears closed towards the poor law and order situation in the province. Later, the House resumed the budget debate, which was interrupted by MQM’s boycott for some time. PPP-S Chief Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao in his budge speech called for launching a national initiative against the war on terror by taking on board all the segments of society. tanveer ahmed
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk