PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Tuesday unanimously condemned the recent bomb blasts in the provincial capital, sympathised and expressed support for the Christian community and urged the federal government to take practical steps for the implementation of the All Parties Conference (APC) declarations for initiating peace talks with militants.
The minority lawmaker, Askar Pervez moved the resolution at the end of the two-day debate on the issue and the entire House supported it with “ayes” when the chair moved it for voice vote. The joint opposition had requisitioned the session after the twin suicide attacks on the All Saints Church in Peshawar on September 22.
The resolution condemned the suicide attacks on the church, the blast on the bus carrying government employees to Charsadda and the Qissa Khwani bazaar car bombing that collectively killed 146 innocent civilians. It said that targeting the minorities was an attack on the ideology of Pakistan.
The resolution said that it was clear that despite all their internal differences and irrespective of their religion and sect, the Pakistani nation think like one nation in difficult times and their unity could not be divided through such acts of cowardice. Extending sympathies to the members of the minority Christian community on this tragedy, the House assured them cooperation and asked the provincial government to ensure their security. It urged the provincial government to chalk out comprehensive plan for the protection of the institutions and places of worship of the minorities and take practical steps within its limited resources to end terrorism. The resolution also appreciated the courage and efforts of people of Peshawar in such tragic terrorist incidents and asked the federal government to take immediate and practical steps for the implementation of the All Parties (APC) Conference decision to hold dialogue with the militants so that the ongoing, decade-old conflict could be ended and peace restored in the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Earlier, the legislators including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha, the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl’s Mufti Janan, Maulana Asmatullah, Mufti Fazal Ghafoor and Malik Noor Salim Khan, Pakistan People’s Party’s Salim Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mohammad Ali, PTI’s Fazal Elahi and the provincial ministers Mushtaq Ghani, Qalandar Lodhi, Shaukat Yousafzai and Shah Farman in their separate speeches condemned terrorist attacks and killing of innocent people. The ruling and opposition lawmakers exchanged harsh words in their arguments and counter arguments. Majority of them deplored yesterday’s hooliganism and suggested avoiding such practices and taking the matters to such an extreme. Responding to the opposition members the minister for information Shah Farman said their government could not be pressurised through such unjustified criticism. Without naming anyone, he said those who had been declaring women rule as un-Islamic were getting facilities from the then government. He asked the opposition not to push them to the wall. “We too are Muslims. And we would unveil the corruption of those claiming to be better Muslims,” he stressed. Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai claimed his department would establish burn care centres in Malakand, Dir, Chitral and Bannu within six months. He said the opposition parties that ruled the province for five years could not do so during their rule. Winding up the debate, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Israrullah Gandapur said the government had received prior information before suicide attack on the churches from the interior ministry but it had not specified any particular church and the place of attack. He said the government had directed the concerned authorities and enhanced security at the churches but since they did not know the exact target the perpetrators succeeded to hit one of the church. He said the government had increased grants for the victims of the blasts and injured and was making legislation to this end. He said the task force has already prepared its recommendations for the purpose. Meanwhile, the journalists covering proceedings of the House staged walk out to protest against the reported remarks of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak against the media. However, they ended the boycott when ministers Israrullah Gandapur and Shah Farman and parliamentary leaders of ANP and PPP, Sardar Hussain Babak and Nighat Orakzai, persuaded them.Later, the deputy speaker Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi prorogued the session sine die.
The resolution said that it was clear that despite all their internal differences and irrespective of their religion and sect, the Pakistani nation think like one nation in difficult times and their unity could not be divided through such acts of cowardice. Extending sympathies to the members of the minority Christian community on this tragedy, the House assured them cooperation and asked the provincial government to ensure their security. It urged the provincial government to chalk out comprehensive plan for the protection of the institutions and places of worship of the minorities and take practical steps within its limited resources to end terrorism. The resolution also appreciated the courage and efforts of people of Peshawar in such tragic terrorist incidents and asked the federal government to take immediate and practical steps for the implementation of the All Parties (APC) Conference decision to hold dialogue with the militants so that the ongoing, decade-old conflict could be ended and peace restored in the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Earlier, the legislators including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha, the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl’s Mufti Janan, Maulana Asmatullah, Mufti Fazal Ghafoor and Malik Noor Salim Khan, Pakistan People’s Party’s Salim Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mohammad Ali, PTI’s Fazal Elahi and the provincial ministers Mushtaq Ghani, Qalandar Lodhi, Shaukat Yousafzai and Shah Farman in their separate speeches condemned terrorist attacks and killing of innocent people. The ruling and opposition lawmakers exchanged harsh words in their arguments and counter arguments. Majority of them deplored yesterday’s hooliganism and suggested avoiding such practices and taking the matters to such an extreme. Responding to the opposition members the minister for information Shah Farman said their government could not be pressurised through such unjustified criticism. Without naming anyone, he said those who had been declaring women rule as un-Islamic were getting facilities from the then government. He asked the opposition not to push them to the wall. “We too are Muslims. And we would unveil the corruption of those claiming to be better Muslims,” he stressed. Minister for Health Shaukat Yousafzai claimed his department would establish burn care centres in Malakand, Dir, Chitral and Bannu within six months. He said the opposition parties that ruled the province for five years could not do so during their rule. Winding up the debate, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Israrullah Gandapur said the government had received prior information before suicide attack on the churches from the interior ministry but it had not specified any particular church and the place of attack. He said the government had directed the concerned authorities and enhanced security at the churches but since they did not know the exact target the perpetrators succeeded to hit one of the church. He said the government had increased grants for the victims of the blasts and injured and was making legislation to this end. He said the task force has already prepared its recommendations for the purpose. Meanwhile, the journalists covering proceedings of the House staged walk out to protest against the reported remarks of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak against the media. However, they ended the boycott when ministers Israrullah Gandapur and Shah Farman and parliamentary leaders of ANP and PPP, Sardar Hussain Babak and Nighat Orakzai, persuaded them.Later, the deputy speaker Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi prorogued the session sine die.
