October 14, 2008	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: The joint session of the two houses of parliament on the US-led war on terror and the law and order situation in the country was adjourned till 11am on Tuesday after of the sudden death of Pakistan Muslim League-Q MNA Nasrullah Khan Bijarani.

The brief sitting on Monday offered fateha for the legislator who died of cardiac arrest in the Federal Services Hospital a couple of hours before the session began.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman was scheduled to provide a ‘civilian view’ of the strategy on the war on terrorism after last week’s briefing by the military leadership.

The session was convened on Wednesday and the briefing was given by Director-General Military Operations Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha.

On Monday, the information minister was to explain the government’s policy because of the scathing criticism by the opposition of the operation being launched in tribal areas.

Even some ruling coalition partners, particularly the JUI-F and ANP, have criticised the way the military briefing was given and asked the government to come out with a clear policy statement.

Sources told Dawn that President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani wanted Ms Rehman, and not PM’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik, to defend the government’s policy in parliament.

The minister, the sources said, had held a number of meetings with the authorities concerned over the last couple of days to prepare points for the statement on the national policy for combating extremism and terrorism.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Dr Fahmida Mirza held a meeting with leaders and representatives of parliamentary parties in the Senate and National Assembly to condole the death of Nasrullah Bijarani.

The meeting was attended by Senators Mian Raza Rabbani, Prof Khurshid Ahmad, Israrullah Khan, Justice (retd) Abdul Razak Taheem, Ms Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, Rahim Mandokhel, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, Abdul Razik, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Hyderi, Zafar Iqbal Jhaghra and MNAs Syed Khurshid Shah, Abdul Mateen Khan, Sheikh Aftab Ahmad, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Jadam Mangrio and Munir Khan Orakzai.

Mr Bijarani, the MNA from Kashmore who led a forward bloc in the PML-Q, was rushed at about 3pm to the Federal Services Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Mr Bijarani had defeated Shehryar Khan of the PPP in the Feb 18 elections.

The PML-Q had given the ticket to Mr Bijarani instead of former prime minister Shaukat Aziz who wished to contest from the constituency.

Prime Minister Gilani expressed grief over the death of Mr Bijarani and offered his heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family. He praised the contribution of Mr Bijarani for promoting democracy in the country.

The legislator’s body was taken to Sukkur by a special C-130 plane on the directives of the prime minister.

Speaker Fahmida Mirza and Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi also expressed grief over the demise of the seasoned parliamentarian.