18 July 2004	Sunday	29 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 17: People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar has sent a report to the acting Senate chairman, Khalilur Rahman, informing him about the opposition's questions, motions and resolutions killed by the Senate chairman in his chamber.

The report was compiled by the PPP senator after the acting chairman asked him to send him the details of the items killed by the Senate chairman when Mr Babar raised the issue on the floor of the house.

The report shows that Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro has so far killed 15 questions, 12 resolutions, four amendment bills, two adjournment motions, a calling-attention notice, a motion under Rule 194 and a privilege motion.

Most of the motions and questions, disallowed by Mr Soomro, relate to the affairs of armed forces, working of intelligence agencies and NAB and the issue of nuclear proliferation.

Mr Babar wrote in the prologue of the report, "most fundamental political and constitutional issue is the growing distortion in the civil-military relationship.

"No less a person than a former army chief Gen Jehangir Karamat has publicly expressed the apprehension that under Gen Pervez Musharraf the civil-military equation is being re-written on the terms of the military alone."

He said the purpose of the report's compilation was to invite the attention of the members of civil society, media, legal fraternity and democratic forces in the country towards the challenges that lie in the way of democratization of Pakistan.

The report said the chairman disallowed most of the motions, questions and resolutions, terming them of "sensitive and secret nature".

In one such question, Mr Babar on October 17, 2003, asked the defence minister "whether any inquiry was held into the Kargil incident and if so whether and when its report would be made public"?

Through another question on May 19, 2003, the PPP senator asked the minister in-charge of NAB to tell the names of those 12 "serving army officials against whom, according to the NAB chairman," the bureau was carrying out investigations.

The chairman while dismissing the question wrote to Mr Babar that "discussion on the subject matter of this question seems to prejudice a matter which is under investigation or is subjudice."

The PPP senator submitted a question on September 19, 2003, asking the defence minister "whether the practice of assets declaration by army officers before the Central Officers Record Office still being continued or has been discontinued?" He also asked the minister to give details of the assets of Gen Ziaul Haq and Gen Akhtar Abdur Rehman, which they declared in 1977 and in 1985.