QUETTA, Oct 12: Opposition members in the provincial assembly on Tuesday expressed concern over the poor law and order situation in the province and urged the Balochistan High Court to take notice of law-enforcement agencies' excesses against political activists.
Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yusuf asked the opposition to cooperate with the government and identify elements involved in rocket attacks. Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar and the provincial senior minister insisted on the formation of a committee from both the sides in the house to discuss the Balochistan issue with the parliamentary committee formed by the centre but the opposition members wanted to discuss the matter with their parties' leadership.
The house adopted a resolution tabled by Rahila Durani demanding that the government grant one month's salary as bonus to Balochistan government employees on religious festivals.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mir Abdur Rehman Jamali tabled the Balochistan Law Officers (Amendment) Bill, 2004, that was exempted from the provincial assembly's rules of business.
Concluding the discussion on the law and order situation on an adjournment motion of the opposition members, the chief minister alleged that some political groups were involved in subversive activities.
He sought the assistance of the opposition members in identifying the causes and aspects of the rocket and bomb attacks and curbing lawlessness. Jam Yusuf asserted that his government would never permit the law-enforcement agencies, including the Frontier Corps, to commit excesses against the Baloch, Pukhtun or other people who were not involved in illegal activities.
He said no one would accept attacks on armymen and government buildings. He said the government could call the Frontier Corps or the army whenever police or the Levies failed to counter terrorists or outlaws.
He said the hand of indigenous elements behind attacks in Gwadar and Quetta could not be ruled out. The chief minister hailed the formation of two committees on the Balochistan issue and expressed the hope that the opposition would cooperate in their deliberations.
Jam Yusuf said the Pakistan Muslim League, the religious alliance and the nationalists had different political approaches but the protection of the life and property of the citizens was the responsibility of all of them.
He said the political groups should give priority to jointly fighting terrorists and anti-social elements. Provincial ministers Maulana Wasay, Hafiz Hamadullah, Maulana Faiz Mohammad, and Mir Asim Kurd and MPAs Shah Zaman Rind and Ambrose Francis said all the provinces confronted terrorism.
They condemned the recent incidents in Sialkot, Multan, Lahore and Karachi. But opposition members Kachkol Baloch, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Akhtar Lango, Majid Khan Achakzai, Sardar Azam Musakhel, Dr Shama Ishaque, Rehmat Ali Baloch and Mohammad Naseem Turyalai condemned the Frontier Corps, police and federal security agencies for victimizing the government's political opponents.
They alleged that about 250 workers of nationalist parties were illegally kept behind the bar and false cases were registered against those who raised voice against injustices.
They claimed that the Frontier Corps had killed innocent people in Wadh but police refused to register an FIR against the militiamen involved. They alleged that the law-enforcement agencies had killed many people in the province but the government was not taking action against them.
They alleged that the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence picked up nationalists and tortured them and their relatives were not allowed to meet them.
They demanded that the high court should take notice of the unlawful acts of the federal agencies that had violated the constitutional and fundamental rights of the detainees and kept political workers in prison without fulfilling the legal procedures.
They said the nationalists were dubbed anti-state and victimized for opposing the government's anti-people projects. They accused the law-enforcement agencies of giving a free hand to outlaws and criminals who were operating in Jungle Piralizai and creating problems for the people in Killi Abdullah and on the Quetta-Chaman road. The session was adjourned till Friday.