QUETTA: The Balo­chistan Assembly session erupted into pandemonium on Monday when government and opposition members used intemperate language, forcing the speakers to expunge the remarks.

Minister for Agriculture Ali Madad Jattak and BNP-Awami President Asad Baloch had a verbal altercation when the former questioned Baloch Yakjehti Committee activist Sammi Deen Baloch was stopped from travelling to Oman at the Karachi Airport.

The speaker, Abdul Khaliq Achakzai, who was presiding the session, expunged all unparliamentary words used by both members against each other.

MPA censures Coast Guards

Earlier, at the start of the session, Mr Baloch raised a point of order and questioned why the six per cent quota of Balochistan in federal government jobs hasn’t been implemented.

BNP-Awami MPA censures Coast Guards for ‘mistreating’ passengers

He asked the provincial government to raise this issue with the Centre and ensure that people from Balochistan are given their share of jobs in the federal services.

He also criticised the treatment of passengers by Coast Guards personnel posted along the Quetta-Karachi and other highways. “The Coast Guards should not consider Balochistan a colony and stop insulting people at their checkpoints,” Mr Baloch said.

He demanded the provincial government take notice of what he called “atrocities” committed by Coast Guards under the garb of checking.

“If the voice of people is ignored, the situation will worsen,” Mr Baloch warned.

The CM assured the house that Coast Guards officials would be summoned and questioned about the concerns raised by the MPA.

He said opposition members would also be invited to attend that meeting.

PPP Parliamentary Secretary Sanjay Kumar presented a joint resolution on behalf of the minority assembly members, Ravi Pooja and Patrick Sant Masih, which sought the inclusion of minorities in government departments.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2024