ISLAMABAD: The Senate witnessed a rumpus on Wednesday when the opposition lodged a noisy protest over police action against the protesting employees of the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) in Islamabad and the government’s policy of privatising state-run enterprises.

Several senators, including members of treasury benches, opposed the policy, blamed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for the “brutal police action” and called for his removal.

Dozens of OGDC employees suffered injuries during the baton charge and tear gas shelling by police which stopped them from entering Red Zone as they wanted to stage a demonstration outside the Parliament House to protest against the government’s decision to privatise the company despite earning huge profit.

Amid slogans, Leader of Opposition in the Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan warned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of withdrawing support to him if he did not change his attitude and review the government’s policies.

“I want to put the prime minister on notice today. Mian Sahab! We had supported you and saved your rocking boat… If you are not ready to change your policies and do not reform yourself, do not eradicate corruption, do not order independent inquiries in Nandipur and LNG scams, do not stop favouring relatives, then your boat will rock again. And at that time, you will not find us behind you. Rather, you will find us in the opposite camp,” he warned.

Most of the senators in their hard-hitting speeches took the absent interior minister to task for not taking any action against workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek even after their attacks on the Parliament House and PTV building on one hand and unleashing police force against unarmed labourers on the other.

On a number of occasions, the opposition members raised slogans like ‘Lathi goli ki sarkar nahi chalay gi’ (No to the rule of sticks and bullets).

The government suffered embarrassment when a veteran member of the ruling PML-N, M. Hamza, concurred with the opposition. Amidst desk-thumping, he condemned the police action and opposed the move to privatise the OGDC.

Interestingly, none of the treasury members, including ministers, tried to defend the police action or the privatisation policy.

“Islamabad has witnessed brutality. Where is the interior minister, where is he hiding,” said the PPP’s Qayyum Soomro.

Amidst slogans of “Shame, shame”, he termed the minister’s performance “zero by zero” and said he should be asked to resign.

At the outset, the parliamentary leader of the PPP, Raza Rabbani, requested the Senate chairman to suspend the normal proceedings and drew the attention of the house to police action against the OGDCL employees.

Zahid Khan of the ANP said Nawaz Sharif had a two-thirds majority in 1997 too but was ousted because of his “incompetent ministers”. Calling for the resignation of the interior minister, he predicted that the same ministers would again cause the fall of the present government.

Haji Adeel of the ANP said the government cannot privatise the OGDCL despite the court’s order because three smaller provinces were opposed to it.

The PPP’s Taj Haider declared that his party would never allow privatisation of the OGDC, PIA and Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).

Another PPP Senator, Mukhtar Dhamra, threatened to block Super Highway and National Highway if the government tried to privatise the PSM.

Later, the opposition members refused to listen to the Minister of State for Interior, Balighur Rehman, and staged a walkout. The ANP’s Abdul Nabi Bangash returned to the house, but only to point out lack of quorum.

Chairman Nayyar Bokhari adjourned the session till Thursday.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2014