The Senate on Monday unanimously adopted a condolence and condemnation resolution over a suicide attack at an imambargah in Islamabad’s Tarlai area, calling for a judicial inquiry to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.
“This House demands the government and the relevant institutions to immediately establish a judicial commission for a transparent, comprehensive and timely investigation into this incident. The members of the judicial commission should include retired senior judges from the Supreme Court, intelligence agencies, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Interior, the National Assembly and the Senate,” the resolution said.
The resolution was tabled by Senator Waqar Mehdi, while Opposition Leader in Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas proposed that it include a demand for a judicial commission to investigate the incident, claiming 35 lives now after another victim succumbed to injures.
The resolution condemns the attack, expresses condolences to the victims’ families, and calls for those responsible – including alleged facilitators and sponsors – to be brought to justice under the law.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar addressed the upper house, saying private members’ bills on Monday’s agenda were being moved to Wednesday.
Tarar said the security forces had come under criticism and asked why they were being blamed. He said the forces were sacrificing their lives and questioned what fault could be attributed to them.
Raja Nasir Abbas delivered an emotional address, contrasting mourning with celebrations elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly unanimously adopted a condemnation resolution against the suicide attack at an imambargah in Islamabad’s Tarlai area, calling it a direct assault on the constitution, religious freedom, national security and inter-sect harmony.
The resolution urged “effective and permanent” security arrangements for places of worship, particularly mosques and imambargahs. It called for immediate and appropriate financial assistance for the families of those killed, and the best possible medical facilities for the wounded.
During the session, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif called for an honest reckoning with the country’s past role in wars linked to Afghanistan, saying Pakistan could not move forward on security unless it admitted “past mistakes”.
“To this day it is not known who carried out 9/11, there was no Afghan Pashtun or Hazara in 9/11. But for two decades, we were available for rent. If we do not admit past mistakes, we cannot move forward. One person, to win America’s favour, made the country America’s frontline state,” he said.
Asif said Afghanistan’s government had told Pakistan it would move the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) away, but demanded Rs10 billion in return, adding that Kabul was still not ready to offer a guarantee even after seeking the money.
“What we did is on record in history,” he said, urging that Pakistan’s role – including hosting “five million people” – should at least be acknowledged.
Asif said those loyal to the US were “still here”, accused India of using Afghanistan to attack Pakistan indirectly, and stressed that while Pakistan may have assisted superpowers, it did not launch attacks. “I say again: those two wars were not ours,” he added.