Pakistan: Balochistan Assembly condemns US strikes

QUETTA: The Balochistan Assembly on Friday passed a unanimous resolution condemning the attacks by NATO and United States forces inside Pakistani territory.

Earlier, the House debated NATO strikes on civilian population in the Tribal Areas in the garb of targeting terrorists.

Jaffar Khan Mandokhel, the parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) had requested the assembly to debate the increasing attacks.

The parliamentarians said the war against terrorism was not Pakistan’s war but that of the US, however, Pakistanis were facing its repercussions.

Pakistan, they insisted, should withdraw its ‘blind support’ for the US and lodge a protest with the United Nations over repeated violations of its territorial sovereignty.

Members of the provincial assembly from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) strongly criticised Provincial Minister for Agriculture and Central Secretary General of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) Mir Asadullah Baloch’s demand of an ‘independent Balochistan’.

They strongly condemned the remarks and demanded Assadullah’s expulsion from the House.

Balochistan Minister for Communication Mir Sadiq Umrani lamented the slogan of independent Balochistan and reminded the BNP minister that he had taken an oath to remain loyal to the state of Pakistan.

PML-Q member Pir Abdul Qadir Gillani requested the speaker to cancel Asadullah’s membership.

Walk out: PPP provincial assembly members Ali Madad Jattak, Sadiq Umrani and Ghazala Gola staged a walkout to protest the grant of the Ministry of Minority Affairs to a PML-Q member.

Ghazala Gola was earlier in charge of the ministry. Addressing a news conference, the PPP leaders said they were not consulted before the move.

“We demand that priority should be given to the leaders of the PPP for allotting ministries. Gola has made valuable contributions for the PPP and it’s unfair to deprive her of the ministry she had been given formerly,” said Umrani.

Provincial Minister for Disaster Management Babu Mohammad Amin said a large quantity of relief assistance had arrived in the areas hit by the October 29 earthquake.

However, the lack of co-ordination among the authorities was leading to inefficient distribution, adding that it was also becoming difficult to keep a record of the aid distributed out until now.