ISLAMABAD – Terming the issuance of summons to the ISI chief by a US court sensitive matter, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that the decision pertaining to it would be taken after mutual consultation.
Responding to remarks of Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Ch Nisar Ali Khan, Premier Gilani said, “I will not give any statement on this issue today. It’s a sensitive matter. No one can send the ISI official to the US court if ISI itself is not willing to go.” The Government is as sensitive to the issue as the other political leadership of the country are, he added.
Talking about the law and order situation in Balochistan and the handling of Shah Zain Bugti by the security agencies, the Prime Minister said that the security agencies should not go beyond their limits and he assured the House that he would talk to Interior Minister Rehman Malik who would take the House into confidence on the issue. However, he added that the matter was a provincial subject.
The Prime Minister said the foreign elements were interfering in Balochistan and the Parliament would have to collectively draw a strategy to handle it. He also assured the House that the Government would take the House into confidence on the summons issued to ISI and Balochistan issues.
The Premier also responded to JUI chief Maulana Fazlur RehamÂ’s remarks, who earlier on the floor of the House alleged that the Government was working on USÂ’ dictations and opposed the military operation in the North Waziristan.
Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani brushed aside the allegations and said that the decision to launch operation would be taken after the consultations with the political leadership of the country. “The economy of any country is based on law and order. Our agenda is to improve economy and law and order. There is no international pressure on the Government. It’s our own problem,” Gilani said.
Talking about the operation in North Waziristan, he said that nobody could dictate the Government. People of Pakistan would decide that where and when the operation should be launched, he added.
Opposition Leader Nisar Ali Khan on the floor of the House said that the Foreign Ministry should strictly respond to the news item regarding summons issued to the ISI official. “We will not let any Pakistani institution to become a slave of any international institution. It’s a political decision of US court to pressurise Pakistan”, the Opposition Leader said. He added that the way security agencies arrested and handled Shah Zain Bugti was condemnable and they should work within their limits.
He also came hard on the Government on the presence of CIA chief in Pakistan. Nisar said that Pakistan was not a Banana Republic and no spy of any country was allowed to carry out activities in any other country. He asked the Government to tell the nation whether or not there was an agreement allowing the US to carry out such activities, adding that if there is such agreement then ISI should also be allowed to carry out operations in the US. He said that the US Government should itself oppose the decision of its court.
Earlier, JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman flayed the Prime Minister on the removal of Azam Swati from the Cabinet and said that the Premier should first consult him before taking any step against Swati.
“Swati was not a member of PPP. If it is a constitutional right of the Prime Minister that he can remove somebody on the ground of poor discipline then it was also a part of discipline that he should have first consulted me. We can be friends of the Prime Minster but we cannot be the peasants of Premier Gilani,” Fazal said.
He added that when Muhammad Khan Junejo removed Yousuf Raza Gilani from his Cabinet, he on the very next day called Benazir Bhutto and joined PPP.
He said, “We had cautioned the Government that if it did not go for Islamic legislations, JUI-F would quit the Government but at that time the Government assured us that the agreement would be implemented but it did nothing in this regard. Swati’s removal became an cause for leaving the treasury benches,” the JUI-F chief revealed.
Elaborating the situation in Pakistan, he said that the US was pressurising Pakistan for launching operations in North Waziristan and IMF was also putting pressure to bring so-called economic reforms. He added that the Government was working on the US’ dictations while the Parliament was carrying out legislating under the international pressure. He also came hard on Iranian President Ahmadinejad and said that he was an “inspector” of the region as he called President Zardari to hand “his terrorists” over to him. He also warned the US that if it tried to attack North Waziristan it would have to face more bitter consequences than it faced in Afghanistan.
Talking about the military operation in Swat and Malakand Division, he said that the Army was still handling the affairs of these areas and the Government had failed to hand over administration of these areas back to the civil authorities, adding that the provincial Government could not even transfer a policeman.
“Obtaining the rights through gun is not right but what the people will do when the democratic institutions would not provide justice to them in accordance with Sharia. We are also criminal that we cannot give them justice in accordance with Islam. I am not a threat to democracy but you are a thereat to Islam,” he added.
Highlighting the achievements of Kashmir Committee of the National Assembly, he said that the Government had fully changed the Kashmir policy but it was the Kashmir Committee, which restored the old policy and it was the efforts of the Committee that after a long time the Foreign Minister could discuss Kashmir issue in United Nations.
“We were informed just a month before Obama’s visit to India and his announcement to support India for the permanent membership of UN Security Council. We immediately started meetings with diplomats to make them understood that India never respected the decisions of the Security Council and it could not become its permanent member. Finally, Obama had to announce that he wished India to become UNSC permanent member rather than announcing his support to India,” Maulana Fazlur Rehman told the House.