Daily Times

Senator Raza Rabbani, a senior member of the PPP, claimed that radicals have ripped the State’s writ away, warning that lynching-like cases in Sialkot will continue unless the fundamental cause of the problem was addressed, Daily Times reported.

“Extremists groups were founded in the country who operated their own courts in public,” the former Senate chairman said in a speech to the Senate on Friday.

A furious Rabbani demanded that the administration reveal the terms under which the government negotiated a truce with Pakistan’s Tehreek-I-Taliban (TTP).

Raza Rabbani also questioned the government’s eagerness in providing help to the Afghan Taliban, claiming that the latter “doesn’t even recognize the border.” Raza Rabbani requested that the foreign minister inform the house on a recent incident in which the new Afghan rulers apparently prevented Pakistan’s security forces from fencing the border. “They aren’t ready to accept the truth.”

“They are not ready to recognise the border, so why are we moving forward?” questioned Rabbani.

The former Senate chairman also raised alarm over reports that the banned Tehreek-I-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was regrouping in Afghanistan, “which could possibly fuel terrorism in Pakistan”. “On what terms is the state talking about a ceasefire with the banned group?” he questioned.

He went on to say that the state of Pakistan meant the civil and military bureaucracy of Pakistan and not the people sitting in parliament.

Taking part in teh debate, Senator Azam Nazir Tarar said intolerance is spreading fast in their society. “We should forget our political differences and unite on issues like this,” he added.

Azam Nazir Tarar took to the floor to speak about the horrific lynching of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara, a factory manager in Sialkot, saying “the incident has shaken us to the core”. The senator said the brutality with which the mob killed the Sri Lankan citizen was highly reprehensible.

Tarar said the trend of mob violence and torture had increased with time. “This trend sprang up during the era of Gen Ziaul Haq and it was later fanned for political gains,” he added.

“This is the social apathy we all have to fight against,” Tarar said. He recalled that two brothers were also lynched in the same city by a mob years ago. He said it was parliament’s responsibility to ensure necessary legislation to provide justice to the downtrodden.

Leader of the House in Senate Shahzad Wasim said they have to save their children from extremism. “We must unite to legislate, train and train minds against extremism,” he elaborated.