ISLAMABAD: The opposition and the government traded charges in the Senate holding each other responsible for plunging the country into economic quagmire.

Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Dr Shahzad Wasim termed the current era the worst in terms of economy and regretted that no sense of urgency was visible on the part of the government. He said the economic situation was not even the focus of a recent meeting of the jumbo cabinet which lasted some five hours.

He alleged that interests of the state were being sacrificed for political interests. “Continuing to stick to the power somehow appears to be the only priority of the incumbent government, which was not ready to face the people’s court”.

The opposition leader said that importers were facing problems in opening letters of credit (LCs), industry was on the verge of closure and there was a crisis of essential commodities in the country. He said the petroleum minister had already indicated a whopping increase in gas tariff.

Chiding the prime minister for roaming around the world with a begging bowl, he noted that begging was a behaviour and the premier was now begging for peace as well.

Senate told 42 journalists murdered in four years

Responding to the opposition leader’s tirade, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi alleged that the former prime minister and his PTI-led government kept on sleeping, totally oblivious to the country’s problems and even their own allies rejected them and they were ousted through a no-confidence vote.

He claimed that no major project had been launched during the PTI government and even the developmental projects initiated by the previous PML-N government were not carried forward. He referred to Pakistan Railways’ ML-I project and said its cost had gone up by over 60 per cent and the same was true for the proposed construction of a jail in Islamabad.

Journalists’ murder

Mr Abbasi told the house that 42 journalists were murdered in the country over the past four years. Giving details, he said 15 journalists were killed in Punjab, 11 in Sindh, 13 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and three in Balochistan.

In reply to a question of Jamaat-i-Islami’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, the minister conceded that it was a critical situation and the government should take a prompt action against culprits and journalists should be provided special security.

He was of the view that the interior ministry should prepare a consolidated report on the matter and present it to the house within two months.

According to the data shared with the house, out of 26 accused in Punjab, seven were arrested, two were bailed out, five were under trial, eight were either not arrested or escaped, one was released by the court, and three were killed in police encounters.

Among eleven accused in Sindh, four were arrested and seven were facing a trial. The number of accused in KP was 13, out of whom two had been acquitted, four were under trial, one could not be arrested.

Likewise, two out of a total of five accused of such cases in Balochistan, one was under trial and another under police investigation. One of the accused from the province has been convicted, the only conviction in such cases across the country over four years.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmad regretted that those who attacked journalists had not been arrested. “Had this been done, Arshad Sharif would never have been murdered,” he remarked.

JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza proposed a probe into the subject the killed journalists were actively working on prior to losing their lives. “This will make clear the reasons for low convictions and arrests,” he remarked.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2023