QUETTA, Sept 20: The Frontier Corps came under fire in the Balochistan Assembly here on Saturday during the debate on an adjournment motion moved to discuss the law and order situation.

Both ministers and opposition members strongly condemned the federal agency’s attitude with the people, but the chief minister announced convening of a meeting to resolve the matter.

The Balochistan Coastal Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2003 was tabled in the house while the chair admitted an adjournment motion of the opposition leader concerning the establishment of cantonments and exploration of natural resources “without the consent of the people”. The motion is due to be discussed on Tuesday.

Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar presided over the session.

Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf, while concluding the discussion on the adjournment motion tabled by PMAP member Naseem Turyala, said that his government would not permit officials to insult or deny the just status of the ministers and members of the assembly.

Referring to the treatment meted out to the provincial health minister at Shalabagh checkpoint, and to the views expressed by the assembly members against the behaviour of the Frontier Corps officers and personnel, he said all this would be discussed at a joint meeting to be convened soon.

He said the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps, high-ups of the Coast Guards, ministers, the opposition leader, and MPAs would be invited to determine a policy which should ensure that the people, their elected representatives and the militia men remained on cordial terms, and played their responsible roles in their respective domains.

The chief minister claimed that he had discussed with the president and the prime minister the role of the federal agency, and maintained that the best solution to the problem was that the militiamen performed their responsibility within the ambit sketched out in the Constitution as exceeding the limits caused trouble.

Jam Yousuf observed that he was against smuggling but if people had no opportunity to earn a living, they were bound to attempt dacoity or smuggling. He referred to the NWFP where he said international donor agencies and the federal government provided the people with funds for tractors and electricity.

He said the Chamalang problem was a dispute between the Luni and Marri tribes over the ownership of coal mines, adding that no one could occupy the land of other person. “So if the government establishes the writ of law then the Marri tribesmen fire rockets, and the government is blamed for a military operation.”

He assured the house that the employees’ issue of the Sui gas company would be resolved. He said the Levies staff had been deputed in Kohlu to counter subversive acts in that district.

Referring to the boycott of some treasury and opposition members because of complaints about PSDP allocations, the CM asserted that a joint meeting in this connection was held on Friday in which it was decided to accommodate all the members in the allocation of PSDP funds.

He said the major accused in the tragic incident of Quetta had been apprehended, and that the federal government was requested to deploy 19 platoons of the Frontier Constabulary to assist the local people in maintaining peace.

Hafiz Hamadullah, the health minister, bitterly criticized the role of the FC, saying that the militiamen were committing excesses against the people in the name of anti-smuggling action. The fact of the matter was that FC officers and staff were demanding graft from the people, he claimed.

The minister alleged that the other day he had sent an ox from Quetta through his sons but it was stopped at the Shalabagh checkpoint, so he personally went to the post where he was ill-treated.

“When I introduced myself to two captains, Asad and Ali, asking them to allow the ox through, the reply was ‘get out of the room,’” Hafiz Hamadullah claimed.

The MMA ministersaid the chief minister should take action against both the captains, otherwise he would lead a procession to block the highway between Quetta and Chaman. Minister for information Hafiz Hussain Shurudy and minister for communications and works Faisal Daud Ahmedzai also backed Hafiz Hamadullah on the issue.

The mover, Naeem Turyala, opposition leader Kachkol Ali Baloch, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Majid Khan Achakzai, and Sardar Azam Musakhel of PMAP, Akbar Mengal and Akhtar Lango of BNP-Mengal, Shah Zaman Rind of the National Alliance, and Rehmat Ali of BNM expressed similar views.

Members of the BNM, PMAP, and BNM also condemned the role of the ISI, alleging that it was involved in tribal disputes in which the tribal elders and politicians had been eliminated.

The session was adjourned till Tuesday.