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Friday, September 27, 2013
Govt, opp flay each other on quake responseBy Tanveer Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: The government and opposition were up in arms against each other in the National Assembly on Thursday over the Balochistan disaster, with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan accusing the opposition of political point-scoring over the natural calamity by walking out from the Lower House of parliament a day earlier.
The remarks of Nisar triggered a harsh response from opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah as well as PTI’s Deputy Parliamentary Leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who accused the government of resorting to provocation rather than settling the issue. “We did not create a scene in the House. We can speak louder than the interior minister,” Shah said in response to Nisar’s accusation that the opposition parties had created a scene in the House on Wednesday. Qureshi added his voice to the protest of Khursheed Shah by terming the interior minister’s speech as provocative, saying it vitiated the atmosphere of the House. Nisar said that the government is not scared of threats of the opposition and said that the natural disaster was made a political issue when the government agreed to adopt the resolution of the opposition. Shah, however, said the opposition supported the government on big tragedies and it did not criticise it over the calamity but on the absence of ministers.
“You people created a scene, not us. We are facing the criticism of ‘friendly opposition’ but supporting you on the national issues,” he said. Shah added that if the opposition wanted to gain political mileage it could do so by taking the government to task on other issues, like rupee’s devaluation, hike in gas and petrol prices and inflation. Earlier, briefing the House about the Balochistan earthquake, Nisar said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is monitoring the rescue services in consultation with the government of Balochistan.
He said that the death toll could rise further as some areas are still inaccessible. He said that a C-130 airplane will start transporting relief goods to the affected areas. The minister said the earthquake has affected five hundred square kilometres area in Balochistan, with Awaran and Kech districts the most-affected areas. Nisar said that all the relevant departments are taking part in the rescue and relief operations, whereas one thousand army personnel are also involved in helping the affected populations.
Chaudhry Nisar said the National Logistics Cell has also been mobilised to transport relief goods to the quake-hit areas. He assured the House that the government would leave no stone unturned in providing every possible help to the affected people. Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that there is a political vacuum in the province that is creating difficulties in providing relief goods to the victims of the disaster.
“Because of this drawback, no one is there to engage the estranged elements that are at loggerheads with the army and FC, which are busy in relief activities,” Qureshi said. Later, responding to a calling attention notice, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab denied construction of Margalla Tunnel or Twin Islamabad City and termed media reports in this regard as speculations. The Lower House also adopted four resolutions moved by the opposition members regarding steps to control use of fake SIMs in the country, rising prices of petroleum, doing away with load shedding of electricity and ensuring infallible security in Islamabad Capital Territory.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk