July 26, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1424

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QUETTA, July 25: Senior Provincial Minister Maulana Wasay on Friday lauded the role played by politicians, religious figures and tribal elders in keeping the situation under control after the attack on an Imambargah here on July 4.

Winding up the debate on an adjournment motion on the first day of the assembly’s session requisitioned by the opposition members to discuss the attack on Imambargah and other issues, he said tolerance, understanding and cooperation would help the government and opposition in restoring peace.

He said cooperation and positive approach by the government and political parties could help control lawlessness.

He said political groups should desist from blaming each other for terrorist acts and said it would protect the real culprits.

He stated that the enemy would exploit ethnic, sectarian and tribal differences. He called for vigilance to foil conspiracies against the country or the democratic system.

The morning session twice witnessed uproar, once during the question hour and again during the discussion on the admissibility of the adjournment motion tabled by the opposition.

Hot words were exchanged as MPAs of the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) supported the role of the army and security agencies whereas the opposition members alleged that the trouble was due to the interference of the army establishment.

The uproar that continued for about 15 minutes forced the chair to adjourn the session for Friday prayers.

There was also disarray within the ranks of the treasury and the opposition.

The opposition was undecided on who would speak on the admissibility as Kachkol Ali Baloch of the Balochistan National Movement, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and Mohammad Shafique of the People’s Party Parliamentarians were interested in speaking.

From the treasury benches, Services and General Administration Minister Mir Abdur Rehman Jamali opposed the motion while Maulana Wasay and Jaffar Mandokhel of the PML-Q favoured debate on it.

In the afternoon’s session, the deputy speaker accepted the motion for discussion on the law and order situation and the July 4 attack.

Opposition leader Kachkol Baloch, speaking on the admissibility of the motion, accused the army of encouraging the fundamentalists and extremists by providing them funds and training and said it was the root cause of terrorism and lawlessness in the country.

He alleged that the government was not serious in apprehending the miscreants.

Finance Minister Syed Ehsan Shah, Revenue Minister Mir Asim Kurd and Shah Zaman Rind of the National Alliance opined that no country, including the United States, could eliminate terrorism committed by suicide bombers.

They said the cause of the attacks should be studied to resolve the issue instead of blaming the government or the security agencies.

Rahim Ziaratwal and Naseem Turyalai of the PMAP said MMA leader Allama Sajid Naqvi had stated that the Imambargah attack was sectarian and that 18 terrorists were allegedly released in Punjab to obtain one vote for the prime minister.

They said interference by the army establishment in political matters had created a constitutional crisis and there could be no stability unless the army generals accepted the supremacy of parliament.

Mohammad Akbar Mengal and Akhtar Hussain Lango of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) alleged that the secret agencies were creating tribal and sectarian rifts to divert the people’s attention from the Gwadar port project.

They said that the police had recently seized weapons in the Dasht area but the question was how they had been brought to the area as there were several militia checkpoints between the border and the location.

Health Minister Hafiz Hamadullah and MMA members Maulvi Faizullah, Maulvi Abdul Rahim Bazai and Maulvi Noor Mohammad claimed that the Indian Research and Analysis Wing was active in disturbing peace in Balochistan after the opening of Indian counsel office in Kandahar.

The minister claimed that the Indian agency was offering $6,000 to any person who planted a bomb in any area of the province. He alleged that motorbikes were given to local agents in Chaman for terrorist attacks.

The MMA members denied Taliban’s interference in the province’s affairs.

Jamhoori Watan Party member Mir Juma Bugti asked what the government was doing to frustrate the designs of the Indian agency and stressed that steps must be taken to save the lives of the people.

Jaffar Khan Mandokhel of the PML-Q said terrorism could be curbed if the writ of the government was established and said India would exploit the weaknesses.

Mr Shafique said foreign forces, specially after opening of Indian diplomatic office in Kandahar, were behind the terrorist acts but the government had not taken security arrangement on July 4 despite the June 8 attack on police recruits in the provincial capital.