PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) from Bajaur, Mohammad Nisar Baz, on Monday claimed that hundreds of people had left their homes ahead of the military operation in Bajaur’s Loi Mamond area, but the government had made no arrangements for their transport, food, or shelter.
Speaking in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, the lawmaker said that a military operation had been launched in Bajaur, but neither the federal nor provincial government owned it.
“Curfew was imposed by the district administration on the directives of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, while temporary arrangements were made for the affected population, but there were no proper facilities for the displaced people,” he said.
The MPA said that he, along with local residents, had been busy until last night making arrangements for the settlement of the displaced families. “Is this a targeted operation or a grand one? And who allowed this in Bajaur — the chief minister or the prime minister?” he questioned.
Pakistan Peoples Party parliamentary party leader Ahmad Karim Kundi, while participating in the general debate on law and order in the province, claimed that the incumbent chief minister had admitted militants demanded extortion from him and that he had paid them.
“When the chief executive of a province is not safe from militants, how can ordinary people expect protection from the provincial government?” he said.He added that the federal government had allocated about Rs700 billion to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for the fight against terror, but the provincial government had yet to explain where the amount was spent.
The PPP MPA urged the provincial government to show seriousness about the deteriorating law and order situation in the province and to constitute a joint parliamentary committee for permanent peace.
MPA Dawood Shah said the local population was concerned over the use of force in Bajaur, where security forces had launched an operation without the consensus of local people and tribal elders.
“Punjab and Sindh are safe, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are burning in the fire of terrorism. There must be a proper policy to counter militancy and militant organisations,” he added.
Ruling party MPA Malik Adil said the PTI-led government openly opposed any military operation in the province without the consensus of the local population.He also accused the federal government of stealing the mandate of the majority party in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, claiming that reserved seats for women and minorities had been given to the opposition.
Malik Adil’s remarks offended women MPAs from the opposition benches, who staged a protest on the assembly floor.The assembly also passed a resolution against the alleged demolition and desecration of mosques in the federal capital and the issuance of licences for the sale and supply of alcohol in Islamabad.
The joint resolution, presented by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl MPA Ubaid Rehman, called on the federal government to stop demolishing mosques in the capital and to cancel licences for the sale of alcohol.Another resolution was passed for the protection of minorities, their right to worship, and ensuring a special quota for non-Muslims in government and semi-government jobs.
