February 21, 2007	Wednesday	Safar 3, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed said in the Senate on Tuesday that his ministry had received information about identities of only 13 Pakistanis who perished in the Samjhota Express blaze and that the Foreign Office, which might have received ‘more up-to-date figures’, would be releasing a list of 49 people.

Meanwhile, the upper house continued the pre-budget debate which entered its second day without the participation of PPP Parliamentarians’ lawmakers, who had vowed to continue their boycott till the arrest of people responsible for what they termed manipulations during by-elections and harassment of PPP workers and leaders.

However, during a discussion on the terrorist attack on the Samjhota Express, both sides urged the government to give a ‘strong message’ to the Indian government.

Speaking after lawmakers of the opposition and treasury benches had expressed concern over reports of Indian agencies’ failure to protect the train, Shaikh Rashid said the death toll had risen to 67 after a passenger named Haris died in a New Delhi hospital. He said that as far as he was concerned, only 13 bodies had so far been identified and 12 of them were being transported from Wagah border and a C-130 cargo plane was on standby to bring in more bodies if their identities were confirmed.Stressing the need for joint investigation, he said India should avoid blaming any organisation for its involvement in the train attack before the completion of the investigation.

Earlier, leader of the opposition Mian Raza Rabbani condemned the Indian government’s inability to provide adequate security for the train which, he said, had resumed as a confidence-building measure between the two countries.

He said conflicting statements by officials of Pakistan Railways, Foreign Office and other government officials had created confusion about the exact death toll and the level of Indian government’s cooperation in providing credible information.

He said that India had apparently put the responsibility of the train blasts on some Muslim militant group which it should have done after sharing information with Pakistan.

Referring to his own party’s grievances, Mr Rabbani refuted the claims of the Minister of State for Interior that MNA Dr Azra had not approached police for FIR registration, and said he had a copy of a petition which the lawmaker had submitted in the court of sessions judge in which she complained that the SHO concerned had refused to register an FIR. He mentioned two FIRs registered in Kotri and Chachar police stations by the party’s candidate contesting the PS-71 by-poll.

He said in the absence of a breakthrough, he was constrained to lead his party lawmakers to boycott the remaining session.

Gulshan Saeed of the ruling party condemned the train blasts and urged the government to concentrate on resolving the Kashmir dispute, instead of going for CBMs without any breakthrough. She said that the government had responded very mildly to India’s cold response.

She feared that such incidents might deter people of the two countries from travelling by trains unless the two governments ensured adequate safety.

Minister of State for Interior Zafar Iqbal Warriach contradicted the PPP leader’s statement and said the fact that Dr Azra did not report to police and opted to go to sessions court, which was only competent to order registration of an FIR.

Giving the official account of the murder of a Punjab minister in Gujranwala, he alleged that a man, who was identified as Sarwar Mughal and arrested by police, had killed the minister.

Initiating the pre-budget debate, Nisar Ahmed Memon highlighted the government’s economic policies but said that the economic growth would remain meaningless if its trickle-down effect did not benefit the poorest sections of the society, adding that right now, no such effect was visible.

He said democracy and freedom of the press were essential ingredients of economic development.

He said because of government’s positive policies, influx of foreign direct investment had increased to over $3 billion in the current year and was expected to increase to $6 billion during the next fiscal year.

Dr Abdul Malik of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) criticised the federal government’s policies which, he said, deprived Balochistan of its just share in the royalty of gas and other mineral resources.

He said that only two per cent of land in the province was being cultivated while five million hectares of land remained barren because it was able to utilise only 25 per cent of its water share while about 15.77 million acre feet of water was wasted.