Pakistan: Safe city claim comes to haunt Nisar

Pakistan Today

The combined opposition in the upper and lower houses of parliament on Monday denounced the terrorist attack on Islamabad district courts and called for the resignation of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for failing to secure the federal capital in spite of his repeated claims.

Senate business was suspended and the session was adjourned in solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attack, as the opposition senators walked out in protest over the security failure. During the 102nd Senate session, chaired by Chairman Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, the members condemned the terrorist incident in Islamabad district courts that left as many as 11, including an additional sessions judge, dead and 28 others injured. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said that Interior Minister Nisar should step down from his office for not being able to ensure security in the federal capital.

“The interior minister had claimed that 26 security agencies were working round-the-clock to ensure Islamabad’s security. He should accept responsibility for the security lapse and resign from his office immediately,” he said. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Senator Hamadullah criticised the national security policy and declared it a bundle of lies. He added that the policy was targeting the seminaries, which was unjustified, as Osama bin Laden was not recovered from any seminary and Dr Shakeel Afridi was not a seminary graduate.

He accused the government of being involved in terrorism as well as patronising the terrorist elements across the country. “Chaudhry Nisar is the wrong person for the job and he should be sacked immediately,” he said. “Where were the 26 intelligence agencies when terrorists were spraying bullets indiscriminately for 45-50 minutes and judges and lawyers were running across streets to save their lives,” said Hamdullah. Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Senator Mushahid Hussain said that the day was the darkest in the history of federal capital and the tall claims by Interior Minister Nisar have been badly trashed.

“Now dialogue should be launched with this new group as well because Taliban have denied involvement in the incident,” he mocked the government.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Tahir Mashhadi criticised the security personnel for failing to challenge the terrorists effectively.

He demanded the government give a go ahead to the armed forces to launch a decisive operation against terrorists.

PPP Senator Kazim Khan said that if the Taliban had not taken responsibility for the attack, they could deny any truce in the future. Senator Sardar Ali pointed out that two hours after the incident, no government officials appeared to take people on board. Senator Sehar Kamran questioned, “Where is the security across the country?” On the occasion, Senator Haji Adeel interrupted and hit hard the government’s irresponsible approach pointing out that no government official or the interior minister were present in the House. He staged protest walkout from the House that was joined by other opposition parties, including PML, PPP and MQM. The Senate chairman expressed his solidarity with the victims and suspended the business of the House on private members day and adjourned the session.