Members of the Upper House of the Parliament delivered furious speeches against the US operation to kill Osama bin Laden, and raised many pinching questions regarding armed forces, intelligence agencies and the government on breaching of the territorial sovereignty of Pakistan.
The members also urged the government to implement 14-point resolution unanimously passed by joint sitting of the Parliament and a report comprising recommendations presented by Parliamentary Committee on National Security in both Houses in letter and spirit to protect the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan. They said that the incident is very serious and it is shameful for the Parliament and people of Pakistan and open challenge threatening territorial integrity of Pakistan. They said that the Parliament should be ready for its repercussions, as it has to play its role to clear the image of Pakistan at international level.
Senator Raza Rabbani of PPP said while participating in the debate on US operation in the Pakistan that this incident is open violation of Pakistan's territorial integrity. He said that after this incident once again Parliament has to play its lead role, as has been done in the past to restore the constitution in its real shape.
Rabbani said that it is the duty of Parliament to find out the root causes of the incident. He said that the people were also looking towards the Parliament, which had taken some hard and tough decisions on national issues in consensus with all political parties in the recent past.
About the incident, Rabbani said, "We should understand logic behind this incident. We will make of the concerned authorities accountable in the in-camera meeting of various Standing Committees of the Parliament. These committees would present their reports in the in-camera joint sitting of the Parliament for debate," he added.
"On one side, extremist forces want to capture the state structure of Pakistan while on other West does not want to see stable Pakistan and propaganda is being launched against our country. The think tank of west are working on changing the geographical boundary of Pakistan," he maintained.
On CIA Chief's statement regarding Pakistan, he said that he had forgotten how many al Qaeda top leaders had been arrested by Pakistan. The CIA chief has also forgotten that how many Pakistani soldiers, officers and innocent citizens had lost their lives in war against terror?
"If CIA chief is saying that Pakistan is incompetent, may I ask that whether CIA was incompetent as it could not avert 9/11 incident despite intelligence reports." He said, "It is being tried to tighten grip on Pakistan, but it will never bargain on its sovereignty for the sake of aid".
While referring to 14-point resolution of joint sitting of the Parliament, he said that according to 4th point of resolution, "Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity shall be safeguarded. The nation will stand against any incursion or invasion, and it calls upon the government to deal with it effectively."
While reading first point of the resolution, he said, "We need an urgent review of our national security strategy and revisit the methodology of combating terrorism to restore peace and stability in Pakistan through dialogue with all genuine stakeholders." Similarly reading second point of the resolution, he said, "The challenge of militancy and extremism must be met through developing a consensus and dialogue with all genuine stakeholders."
Muhammad Ishaq Dar of PML-N said that no party has any differences on the roadmap of terrorism and economy of Pakistan. He said that Parliamentary Committee on National Security has presented its recommendations and in-camera joint session of the Parliament had unanimously passed 14-point resolution about foreign policy and war on terror. But there is question, how much of it has been implemented?
"What our armed forces and intelligence agencies were doing when US helicopters breached our airspace and remained engaged for 40 minutes in conducting operation in Abbottbad? The US forces breached the territorial integrity of our country while the government is congratulating," he said.
Ishaq Dar said that Indian Army Chief General V K Singh has said that India's armed forces can carry out an operation similar to the one conducted by the US in Pakistan against al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. He said that US General Petraeus has said that the US would fight third war in Pakistan after Iraq and Afghanistan.
Afrasiyab Khattak of Awami National Party (ANP) said parliamentary committee on National Security should probe this incident and revisit the strategy of national security. He said, "we should come out of denial mode and there is need to change policy with regard to Afghanistan".
He said the committee should determine the causes and lapses that led to the incident and the Parliament should suggest the punishment for those responsible for these lapses and suggest measures to avoid such incidents in future. Senator Rehmatullah Kakar and Dr Abdul Malik also participated in the debate and said that the government should implement the suggestions and recommendations of the Parliament and its committee on national security.