ISLAMABAD: The opposition senators on Tuesday assailed the government for “having no clear agenda” to deal with terrorism alleging that its “confused approach” to the menace was only demoralising the people and the security apparatus.
“The Taliban have a clear policy whereas the government has no policy at all,” said Senator Shahi Syed of the Awami National Party (ANP) while speaking on an adjournment motion of PPP leaders Raza Rabbani and Aitzaz Ahsan on last week’s Islamabad incident in which a lone gunman kept the police engaged for more than five hours.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who remained present throughout the debate, was the main target of criticism not only for “poor handling” of the situation, but for allegedly changing his statements from time to time about the gunman’s intentions and affiliations.
The opposition senators showered praise on PPP leader Zamarrud Khan for showing courage and “bringing the drama to an end”. PML-Q’s Mushahid Hussain even suggested to the government to acclaim and honour the PPP leader for his “bravery”. The senators were of the view that Zamarrud Khan had to intervene when he saw the helplessness of the police and security personnel who kept on witnessing the gunman opening fire in the air with regular intervals and roaming freely on the road while smoking and drinking energy drinks.
Initiating the debate, PPP’s Raza Rabbani posed 17 questions asking the interior minister to respond to each of them. He asked the minister to tell the parliament as to “who was the in charge of the operation against the gunman and whether the prime minister was involved during the whole episode at any point of time?”
He asked Chaudhry Nisar to explain as to why he had not authorised any police official on the scene to react according to situation when he was himself not present at the site and what was his engagement in Lahore which did not allow him to return to the capital.