Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that clash of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) workers with army soldiers is a very serious issue and it should be resolved politically, urging the speaker National Assembly to constitute a special parliamentary committee to address this matter.
"This incident is very serious and it should not be proliferated. The security forces should not be attacked. We should realise that the fault-line be dealt with politically and not by force. If we do not handle this issue politically then its consequences would be very dangerous. Bring them into your fold, bring them into the political mainstream," Asif expressed these views while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Friday.
The PML-N leader said that now FATA is part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and now it is the KP chief minister's responsibility to talk about the issue. He said that it is the Defence Minister Pervez Khattak's responsibility, who also remained the chief minister of KP for five years, to talk about it. He said that the Interior Ministry should speak about it.
He said that the Prime Minister should have issued a statement on Sunday about incident. "Until you bring that area into political mainstream, the elements across the border will exploit the situation," he cautioned. "Wherever differences lie, wherever fault-lines exist, our enemy will exploit them."
"Mr. Speaker, it is also your responsibility to play role to resolve this issue politically. It should be resolved through the Parliament," he added. "Obstacles will come in our way because we have been exploiting the area for the last 30 to 35 years. The backdrop of Sunday incident was that we exploited the area," he said. "Two MNAs are being named in the Sunday incident. One has been arrested while the other is said to be at large," Asif said. "The KP particularly tribal areas had played a frontline role against the terrorism. The people of tribal areas have been target of terrorism. If we do not consider this issue then it will become dangerous for integrity and sovereignty of our country," the PML-N leader added.
The PML-N leader said, "We destroyed the culture and identity of tribal areas for our proxy wars. If we don't correct our fault lines, our sovereignty would be in danger. Our history of the past 72 years is tragic. We have committed mistakes in the past. The mistakes in East Pakistan caused the Fall of Dhaka. Unrest in Balochistan has continued on and off for many years."
The PML-N leader said that earlier this month the National Assembly unanimously passed a constitutional amendment presented by MNA Mohsin Dawar, without a dissenting note. "It was the first instance where a private bill was converted into the amendment. The amendment is yet to be passed by the Senate because some forces are in action to prevent it from passage. It will be our defeat if those forces, through manoeuvring, prevent it from being passed by the Senate," he said.
While speaking about the controversy of NAB chairman, the PML-N leader urged the speaker to constitute a special parliamentary committee to probe the matter relating to some leaked audio and video clips involving Justice Javed Iqbal (retd). "The PTI government has become alert as a trap is set against the NAB chairman. Jahangir Tareen has shares in the TV channel that broke the news [of the leaked tapes]," he claimed and added that it was an attempt to "steal [NAB chairman's] credibility."
The PML-N leader questioned the government's role in "trapping" the NAB chairman to "save its own people." He alleged, "The PTI government wants to blackmail the NAB chairman to save its own people." He said that the NAB, FIA and other agencies are making Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari, Speaker Sindh Assembly Agah Siraj, Saad Rafiq and his brother, and others accountable but the actions are not seen against the treasury members.
Asif said that most of the people facing NAB cases are in the opposition and pointed out that references against members of treasury benches are also pending. "Someone has said this rightly that time changes. Power has a shelf life. Trust me when I say this, I have been on both sides of the aisle."
"We have been in power as well and we [too] and thought the time would never end. I want to say this as a reminder: power has a shelf live," he repeated. The PML-N leader claimed, "Some people within the PTI are sitting ready to replace Imran Khan as Prime Minister." He said that Pakistan is in middle of economic meltdown. "The people of IMF have taken the top positions of our economy."
Responding to Khawaja Asif, Communication Minister Murad Saeed lashed out at past governments for failing to develop terror-hit areas. During the speech of the minister, the opposition staged a walkout from the House. Saeed said that the process of development and progress has begun in erstwhile FATA and the government is committed to addressing every genuine demand of tribal people.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan and entire government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are eager to solace the people of tribal areas, who have been facing pain and war for the last several years. He said Imran Khan has announced a package of Rs 22 billion for the rehabilitation of houses and shops of the tribal people destroyed in war on terror.
The minister said it was he who raised voice in the National Assembly for the rights of the tribal people. He said Pakistan's Constitution guarantees freedom of speech to every citizen, but the fashion of maligning country's institutions should be stopped.
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