October 3, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 6, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Oct 2: The NWFP Assembly was told here on Thursday that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government had no knowledge of the ongoing military operation against the Al Qaeda fugitives in southern Waziristan agency on Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Giving the government version on a point of order raised by Mr Israrullah Khan Gandapur, Senior Minister Sirajul Haq informed the House that they had no authority in the tribal area, which was directly controlled by the federal government. He said the MMA was opposed to harbouring of the terrorists in the province.

Citing a news item aired by a private TV channel, Mr Gandapur said military troops were carrying out an operation against the Al Qaeda men in the tribal agency.

In past, he said, the MMA leaders had taken out processions and condemned the US-sponsored operations against the Al Qaeda men and Taliban in the NWFP but after the recent visit of US Ambassador Nancy Powell to Peshawar, the MMA government had “closed its eyes”.

He claimed that after receiving an aid of 300 million dollars, the MMA government had dissociated itself from the happenings in the tribal belt. Which stand of the MMA was correct, the one it had taken in the past or the present one, he asked.

Evading to take a direct stand on the military operation in the tribal area, Mr Haq kept on speaking about the accomplishments of the religious organisations in the country.

Later, the provincial assembly adopted 10 resolutions on various issues, which directly related to the federal government.

The assembly demanded of the federal government to amend the Constitution and vest only four subjects — foreign affairs, defence, currency and communications — with it and hand over the residual subjects to the federating units.

Mr Bashir Ahmed Bilour of the Awami National Party, who presented the resolution, said a strong and developed federation could be built when maximum autonomy was given to its federating units. The House unanimously adopted the resolution.

Presided over by Speaker Bakht Jahan Khan, the assembly adopted nine resolutions unanimously and one by majority vote. It sent six of these to the federal government for taking necessary action.

Mr Abdul Akbar Khan of the People’s Party Parliamentarians tabled a resolution seeking a 400mw fixed, free of cost share, out of the 1,450mw, a total power generation from the Ghazi Barotha Power Project, for irrigation purposes in the southern districts.

He said the power project had rendered hundreds of the NWFP residents homeless. The government should grant 400mw to the NWFP as it had determined a share of the Kashmiri people in the power generation from the Mangla Dam, he added.

This, he said, would help farmers in setting up a networking of tubewells in the southern district, where one-third of the lands were laying barren. The House adopted the resolution unanimously.

Through another resolution, tabled by Mufti Nizamuddin of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, the House urged the federal government to withdraw a Rs10,000 raise made by PIA in the Umra ticket. The House termed the raise, before the holy month of Ramazan, unjust and adopted the resolution unanimously.

Through other resolutions, the House demanded early action for the construction of water supply project to Peshawar from the Warsak Dam, an end to obscenity in PTV programmes and ban on reemployment of retired employees on government departments.