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ISLAMABAD: Questioning Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s defence of intelligence agencies, opposition members on Thursday sought his resignation for failing to prevent major terrorist attacks in the country despite having prior information.
“I call upon the prime minister to seek the interior minister’s resignation and order an inquiry to find out those responsible for serious security lapses,” said the newly-appointed parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Taj Haider, while speaking on a point of order in the Senate soon after the question hour.
He also urged the president to take notice of Chaudhry Nisar’s statement that his ministry had prior information of major terrorist attacks and order an inquiry to determine if the security lapses were deliberate or not.
The PPP senator, who was supported by retired Col Tahir Mashhadi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, accused the minister of “committing criminal negligence” by not taking preventive measures despite having foreknowledge of major terror attacks.
In his winding up speech on a debate on the recent terrorist attacks in Quetta, Mardan and Peshawar on Wednesday, the minister had praised the role of intelligence agencies in the ongoing fight against terror. He had claimed that the federal government had prior knowledge of some major terrorist incidents.
He had claimed that the government had information about the attack on the Army Public School, Peshawar, three months before the incident whereas it had information about the raid on Bannu prison some two weeks before it took place. Similarly, he said, they had received reports about the attack on Karachi airport four months before the incident and the agencies had even pointed out the gate from where terrorists were to enter the airport building to carry out the attack in 2014.
Expressing displeasure over criticism by some senators over the role of intelligence and security agencies, Chaudhry Nisar had asked the political parties to encourage intelligence agencies which were working in a professional manner and “fighting the war for the country’s survival”.
Taking part in the debate, a number of senators had linked last month’s terrorist attack in Quetta to “intelligence agencies’ failure” and called for a thorough investigation to fix responsibility.
Mr Haider said the minister’s statement proved that they were right in thinking that there were certain elements in the interior ministry who had not, intentionally or unintentionally, paid heed to the reports of agencies.
Mr Mashhadi said it was surprising that the minister had claimed that the government had very accurate prior information about the attacks on the APS and the Civil Hospital in Quetta. “If this is so then why lives were not saved,” he said while supporting the PPP’s call for an investigation.
The MQM senator said that the federal government could not absolve itself of responsibility by simply stating that it had passed the intelligence information to the provinces. Even if some elements in the provincial governments are responsible for security lapses, they should be identified.
Earlier, the opposition and some treasury members staged a walkout when Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Aftab Shaikh, in response to a question asked by the PML-N’s Salahuddin Tirmizi, said the government was considering no proposal to provide offices and staff to members of the National Assembly and senators.
Mr Tirmizi termed the reply an “insult to the house”, saying that all over the world, elected representatives were provided with office and staff so that they could interact with their constituents and perform their duties in a better way. The minister said that he was personally in favour of the idea and asked the house to make recommendations to the government so that the matter could be pursued.
Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2016
