August 10, 2007	Friday	Rajab 25, 1428

QUETTA, Aug 9: Three identical motions pertaining to the missing persons moved by opposition members in the Balochistan Assembly on Thursday were disposed of after the revenue minister said the issue could not be discussed because the cases were pending before the Supreme Court.

The motions tabled by three opposition members — Jan Mohammad Buledi, Rehmatullah Baloch and Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal -- said the government must take notice of the violation of the Constitution by intelligence agencies and arrest of political activists without fulfilling legal requirements.

They said the matter had become so serious that even women on the call of the Baloch Women Panel had been observing token hunger strike for the last 11 days.

The opposition members demanded that the detainees should either be released or produced before the court. They complained that national highways were not safe and passengers were kidnapped for ransom.

Provincial Revenue Minister Mir Asim Kurd Geelo opposed the acceptance of motions for a debate on the grounds that missing persons’ cases were pending before the apex court.

However, he assured the house that the government would act against the abductors who had kidnapped some people on the highways. The chair then disposed of the motions.

The chair referred the privilege motion of Mr Ziaratwal to the privilege committee and asked it to submit a report in the house on August 13.

The mover complained that the chief engineer of Qesco misbehaved with him when he along with some people apprised him of electricity problem in the Harnai area.

Deputy speaker Mohammad Aslam Bhootani, who chaired the session in the absence of speaker, did not allow offering fateha for Raziq Bugti, the media consultant for the chief minister, despite strong protest lodged by three ministers who accused the deputy speaker of being biased.

Provincial Finance Minister Syed Ehsan Shah, Revenue Minister Mir Asim Kurd Geelo and Education Minister Nasreen Khetran on a point of order had called for holding fateha for Raziq Bugti, but the chair was reluctant to grant the request. He said he was not biased. The deputy speaker asked the ministers that they could table a no-trust motion against him if they so desired.

However, Mr Shah along with other treasury members offered fateha for Raziq Bugti.

It may be recalled that the chair had not allowed the move for fateha for the departed soul during an earlier session of the Balochistan Assembly on August 6.

The house passed four resolutions of opposition and treasury members seeking an increase in funds for the Bolan Medical Complex, Civil Hospital and Cenar Hospital, provision of electricity to Koloa in Kech and Awaran districts, change in criteria of the Village Extension Electricity Programme and construction of checkpost for traffic police on the pattern of military police.

The house was adjourned till Saturday.