ISLAMABAD, June 13: The treasury and opposition benches traded harsh words and allegations in the Senate on Monday after State Minister for Interior Dr Shahzad Waseem and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Women Development Nelofer Bakhtiar accused the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the opposition of exploiting the Mukhtaran Mai issue in order to please foreign lobbies.

In her speech, which attracted the opposition’s ire, Ms Bakhtiar informed the house that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had ordered an inquiry into the inclusion of Mukhtaran Mai’s name in the Exit Control List (ECL).

Ms Bakhtiar said the government had not placed any restriction on inland movement of the rape victim and provided her security by posting nine policemen and an inspector at her doorstep.

The minister said the government would move the superior courts to seek justice for the rape victim for which her presence in the country was necessary. She said: “We do not want to expose our wounds to the international community. We do not want to wash our dirty linen in public.”

Ms Bakhtiar said: “The government will not be bullied by the opposition or the NGOs having foreign driven agenda.”

The government would not succumb to any foreign pressure on the issue, she said, adding that President Gen Pervez Musharraf was the first person to intervene in the matter and gave Rs5 million to the victim for her rehabilitation.

She said the government was also committed to establish a Mukhtaran Mai Crisis Centre in Meerwala.

She claimed that after the High Court released the accused on bail, the government detained them under MPO.

State Minister for Interior Dr Shahzad Waseem said Mukhtaran Mai was not under house arrest and the opposition was distorting the facts.

The minister said the NGOs were exploiting the case “for a dinner with John and Johny Walker” to build their portfolios and get foreign funding. “Vultures (Gidh), Crows (Kuwa) and Eagles (cheels)” were trying to exploit the case, he said.

Mr Waseem said the government was well aware of the situation and taking appropriate steps to tackle it.

Leader of the opposition Senator Raza Rabbani pointed out the contradictions in the statement of Ms Bakhtiar.

He said on the one hand Ms Bakhtiar said that government wanted Mai’s presence in the country to plead her case in the superior courts while on the other the prime minister had ordered an inquiry to find why her name was put on the ECL.

Senator Rabbani said the government had put Mai’s name on ECL to stop her from meeting certain appointments abroad which the Amnesty International had arranged.

He said Mukhtaran Mai told a press conference on telephone that she was not allowed to leave her home and the journalists in Islamabad heard her saying that she could not meet her lawyers. “If this is not a house arrest then what else is it?”

Rebutting the charges on the opposition that it was pursuing a foreign agenda by highlighting Mukhtaran Mai’s case, Senator Rabbani said: “How dare they (Ms Bakhtiar and Mr Waseem) accuse the opposition and the NGOs of following foreign agenda?”

He said a Pandora’s box would be opened if he started recounting how the economic, foreign and security policies of the country were made subservient to foreign dictates by the incumbent government.

ANP Senator Asfandyar Wali said it was a strange case in which the victim’s name was on ECL while the rapists were not. A ruling party member, Senator Pari Gul Agha, accused the NGO’s of minting money by exploiting the rape incident.

She said it would be a matter of shame if Mai proceeded abroad and narrated what she suffered. There were many other cases but the NGO’s had picked up only one, she said, adding that the debate on the topic should end.