Senators ask government to share ToRs of Islamic Military Alliance

The lawmakers in the Senate Friday demanded of the government to share the terms of reference of Islamic Military Alliance with the Parliament, saying role of the Parliament which declined Saudi call for armed support in Yemen fight should not be underestimated.
Taking part in discussion on the admitted adjournment motion moved by Senator Sherry Rehman regarding key commitments made by the government to the coalition without taking the Parliament into confidence, the senators said that after the government failed to take any decision about sending troops to Riyadh, it was the Parliament which said "no" to military support in Yemen war.
Senator Usman Kakar of PkMAP said that real head of Islamic Military Alliance is the US President Donald Trump and former army chief Raheel Sharif is working as his deputy. He said that establishment of democratic governments in Middle Eastern countries, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Iran, is the only solution to the crisis.
He said that the Saudi money is being used for harboring terrorism in the Islamic countries as there is not a single country which is not facing the menace of terrorism, adding Washington could not have recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital without consulting Riyadh.
Senator Farhatullah Babar said that it is frightening that both Foreign Office and Parliament are in the dark about the terms of reference of the Islamic Military Alliance even after three weeks of its formal launching in Riyadh where defense ministers of member countries met to finalize its strategy and future plans.
He said that the Foreign Office talks about four domains of the alliance including military, but it has no clue of what exact role the military will play in the enterprise. Reading out from the press talk of the Foreign Office spokesman, he said that the spokesman had no information and "asked the authorities for more details."
He questioned who the authority is beyond the Foreign Office and Parliament which is privy to details of engagement in the four listed domains particularly the military, and warned against consequences of engaging in a military conflict in the Middle East.
"We have already burnt our fingers in conflict in Afghanistan; let's not burn ourselves totally by engaging in a military conflict in the Middle East," he added.
He said that according to official statement, the purpose of Riyadh meeting was "to outline coalition's strategy." The military commander further stated that it "encompasses four key areas of ideology, communications, countering terrorism financing and military to fight terrorism," he said.
Babar said that first the foreign minister assured that Pakistan will not join without first agreeing on terms of reference of the alliance. But then in unexplained haste and relaxing all rules forbidding such appointment before completion of two years after the retirement, the former army chief was sent as head of the military coalition.
But even after the defense ministers actually met and supposedly finalized the terms and the alliance was formally launched, no one seems to know what the terms are, he said. It only strengthens the perception that invisible and unaccountable ghosts are running all policies.
He said that within days of the Riyadh meeting, the former strongman of Yemen Abdullah Saleh who was tilting towards Saudi Arabia was brutally murdered. This should serve as a warning of conflict spiraling and dragging Pakistan in the quicksand of the Middle East.
The tough talk by the PPP senator prompted Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani to observe that he (Babar) might be picked up by the unknown forces before he completes his six-year term in March. But another PPP Senator Rehman Malik told Rabbani not to think like that as his colleagues are not weak and nobody can even dare to touch him.
To this, Rabbani said that he had stated that in a 'lighter mood in order to put Senator Babar at ease.'
Senator Malik regretted that no one knows about the exact mandate of the alliance, and no one knows who will fund it, adding there should be some law about sending troops to join the alliance like there is no issue for sending troops to the UN peace keeping mission.
Senator Shibli Faraz of PTI said that the Parliament has lost its glory as it has failed to come up to the expectation of the people due to which no one is ready to give it due importance.
Another PTI Senator Azam Swati said that the government has completely failed to manage things both internally and externally due to which the country has become a laughing stock. He said that the only solution to steer the country out of the prevailing crisis is a fresh mandate as soon as possible.
He said that the situation of Pakistan's Parliament is even worse than that of OIC [Organization of Islamic Countries]. This prompted Rabbani to defend the Parliament, saying the Parliament is far better than OIC, as the situation of OIC has become worsened.
Senator Seher Kamran of PPP said that the reason Pakistan has facing isolation across the globe is mainly due to flawed policies of the government which could not even appoint a foreign minister for compete four-and-a-half years.
She said that Gulf States have their own national interest, and they would not give priority to the interest of Pakistan, adding the government's approach of not sharing anything regarding the Islamic Military Alliance, neither in-camera nor in defense committee meeting, shows there is something fishy.
Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini said. "There exists no Muslim Ummah, as it can only be read in books. If someone believes there exists any Muslim world, he is befooling himself, as it is the biggest joke."
"Boycotting the US products is a gigantic task, as this so-called Muslim Ummah cannot even boycott Pepsi and Coca Cola," he lamented.
Senator Javed Abbasi of PML-N said that it is commendable that Muslim countries are going to form a military alliance like Nato to fight the menace of terrorism, adding it is a great step in right direction which all the Muslims should appreciate.
Senator Shahi Syed of ANP expressed the fear that the Islamic Military Alliance may turn out to be yet another failure like Afghanistan where the creation of Taliban is still haunting the Islamic countries.
Senator Talha Mehmood of JUI-F questioned what the use of such useless alliance is which was not seen when Myanmar Muslims were being persecuted, and there was nothing from the Alliance when Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will wind up the debate on Tuesday.
Later, Chairman Rabbani acknowledged that it was a mistake on part of the Parliament which did not notice that a bill can not become an act of Parliament after signature of the President unless the government issues a notification.
Referring to passage of Cost of Litigation Bill, 2017, passed by both houses of the Parliament and signed by the President some seven months back, he said that the government is yet to issue a notification in this regard.
He directed the leader of house in Senate to present the notification regarding the bill in Senate on Monday so that the bill might become law, adding he came to know about it after someone filed a public petition in this regard.