ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: A ruling party MNA from Bahawalpur Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Monday surprised his colleagues on the treasury benches when he expressed his anger at the government’s decision to allow North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) forces to take part in relief and rehabilitation activities in the earthquake-ravaged areas of Pakistan.

Taking part in the debate in the National Assembly on the Oct 8 calamity, the ruling party MNA said that history showed that foreign forces had never left the country where they had been called to carry out certain operations.

“Who is the guarantor of these (Nato) forces and who will send them back?” Mr Pirzada queried while suggesting that the issue should have been debated in parliament before taking such a decision.

“These (Nato) forces will become a security risk,” he warned.

Mr Pirzada was of the view that there was no need to allow Nato forces to enter the country when Pakistan’s own army was doing the relief work. He said wherever Nato forces had gone, they created hatred among masses.

Amid opposition members’ desk-thumping, the MNA criticized the government for obeying the US orders, saying the country had already suffered a lot in its efforts to collect dollars from abroad. He said that history also showed that natural calamity had never hit a state where a fair judicial system was prevailing.

He said the nation was suffering because of their misdoings. “We started Ramazan in a wrong manner and, therefore, invited Allah’s wrath,” he said while referring to the third phase of the local government elections held on October 6.

People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) MNA Sherry Rehman said that according to seismologists, the intensity of the earthquake had been lower than the one expected. She regretted that Pakistan was not a part of the Global Seismographic Network, which allowed data to be shared and some level of predictability built into quake planning.

She said both India and Pakistan were shy of this Network, because of their secret nuclear programmes, but should be aware that all underground testing was now recorded anyway through sensitive equipment the world over.

Despite the fact that Pakistan’s major cities lie on some of the most dangerous fault-lines in the world, she said, the country had no Seismic Code, which determined to some extent the magnitude and intensity of when an earthquake could hit an area.

She said there was a need to construct building keeping in view the specifications of the country’s code.