Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Condemning the unprovoked firing by Afghan forces on a census team near border in Balochistan, a legislative body of the Upper House of Parliament on Monday asked the government to seek ‘written apology’ from Afghanistan over the incident.

The Standing Committee of Senate on Interior and Narcotics Control also asked Afghanistan government to stop playing in the hands of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Committee chairman Senator Rehman Malik said that a ‘super power’ was present in Afghanistan hence such unprovoked firing could not be ignored. He believed ongoing cross-border violations by Afghan security forces was part of an international conspiracy.

The committee suggested the government to take up the issue with the United Nations. The committee directed the Ministry of Interior to brief the committee about the incident and that what steps the government had taken to prevent such kind of brutalities in future.

The committee called for legal proceedings against Tehreek-i-Taliban former spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan and directed the Ministry of Interior to take Senate into confidence on his arrest or surrender. NADRA chairman briefed the committee in detail about the blocking and unblocking of national identity cards across the country. While appreciating NADRA’s move of unblocking CNICs of genuine Pakistanis, Rehman Malik said that Pakistan was passing through a difficult time of its history in terms of security. He said NADRA must ensure that no Afghani and any other foreigner possesses national identity card of Pakistan.

On issue of fake CNICs, the committee emphasised legal action against officials of NADRA and other departments involved in the scandal. The committee also proposed introduction of DNA test for obtaining CNIC for the first time.

The committee discussed the Illegal Dispossession (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and was of the view that the property of the people was being grabbed and no one was there to investigate the issue. The real owners of the property had to suffer a lot due to lack of relevant laws.

Rehman Malik apprised the committee that he had been receiving a lot of complaints from overseas Pakistanis that their properties were being grabbed in their absence. Senator Shahi Syed said that the police cannot take any action against land grabbers and it has turned into the worst mafia of the country. The committee expressed pleasures over the safe recovery of PPP’s missing workers and appreciated the law enforcement agencies. However, it directed the Ministry of Interior to share the details about recovery of both the abductees with the committee.

Senator Shahi Syed, Senator Col (r) Syed Tahir Hussian Mashhadi, Senator Javed Abassi, Senator Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, Senator Chaudhary Tanvir Khan, Senator Muhammad Ali Saif, Senator Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamrah and Senator Shibli Faraz attended the meeting.