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| June 16, 2005 | Thursday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 8, 1426 |
Senators condemn denial of US visa to Javed Iqbal
ISLAMABAD, June 15: The treasury and opposition senators on Wednesday joined hands to condemn the US treatment of Pakistani citizens in general and denial of visa to Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal in particular. The presiding officer Khalid Ranjha observed that the Senate had reached a consensus that US citizens should be given reciprocal treatment by the government.
The house directed the foreign minister or the state minister for foreign affairs to appear before the house in its next sitting and explain the government’s policy vis a vis treatment of US citizens.
Earlier, senators from the treasury and opposition benches condemned the denial of visa to Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal and said it was a disgrace for the country that the son of a world-renowned poet, Allama Iqbal, was denied visa by the US Embassy.
Education Minister Lt Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi said the US had gone paranoid about Muslims and anyone having a Muslim name after 9/11.
He said the government had never protested to the US about mistreatment of its citizens and a policy review should be done to give reciprocal treatment to American citizens.
LADY DOCTOR ABUSED: Speaking on a point of order, Senator Amanullah Kanrani, told the house how a lady doctor, Dr Raheela, was physically abused by men in brown uniform at a toll plaza.
Senator Kanrani said the men were given uniforms and weapons to protect the citizens but they were abusing citizens as they had torn the clothes of the lady doctor and struck her with the butts of their guns.
He said the lady doctor was stopped at a toll plaza after she was going back to Sargodha from Lahore. He said the police refused to register a case on the complaint of the victims as the culprits belonged to the military, and added that the culprits should be arrested and tried under the law of the land.
Taking strong note of the incident, the Senate’s presiding officer, Dr Khalid Ranjha, asked the state minister for interior to find the details of the incident and inform the house.
Senator Ranjha said a case should be registered against the SHO concerned for not registering an FIR, and added it amounted to burking under which the official could be dismissed from service.
The presiding officer observed that a case could be registered against the men in brown uniform under Sections 337F, 392 and 394 by the police.
State Minister for Interior Dr Shahzad Waseem assured the house that he would investigate the matter and apprise it about the action taken in this regard.
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