ISLAMABAD – Members of the Senate demanded formation of a parliamentary committee to take stock of the development work being undertaken by the military in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) where peace has been restored after a military crackdown against terrorists.
Senator Saleh Shah, a tribal senator, said that lawmakers were not allowed in some agencies of the tribal areas that had returned to normalcy, and there was a need to form a parliamentary panel to review the overall security situation and the uplift schemes in the areas.
Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani said that he had no objection to constituting a parliamentary committee consisting members of both National Assembly and Senate. He called upon the senators to consult leader of the House and opposition leader in Senate about formation of a parliamentary panel.
Senator Saleh Shah regretted that despite a request to Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) Let Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch to arrange a visit of parliamentarians to tribal areas, he linked it to approval by the military.
Citing reports, the FATA senator made startling revelations about the expenditure on the ongoing military offensive Zarb-e-Azb in tribal areas to cleanse the area from terrorists, saying the operation has so far cost Rs 1.44 trillion to the national treasury.
The intelligence-based crackdown on criminals and terrorists in Karachi to purge the city of terrorists and criminals, he said Rs 22.49 trillion have so far been spent.
About Rah-e-Nijad operation which is being carried out during the last four to five years in Kurram, Bajaur, Mohamand agencies of tribal areas, he said expenditure for a single cricket tournament in one of these agencies, was Rs4 million while in another similar match it cost Rs2.8 million to organize a tournament.
He said that as chairman of Senate committee chairman on Safron, the members had decided to visit the areas where normalcy has returned to take stock of the mega projects and other development schemes being undertaken there but the military is yet to give an approval for the visit. “There is no bar on anybody else to go to FATA but this is beyond comprehension why the military is hesitant to allow the elected representatives of people from visiting the areas,” he questioned.
He said that on hand the military crackdown on militants is in full swing while on the other there are reports of Indian spy agency RAW’s involvement and ISIS involvement in creating unrest in the country.
Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif of MQM seconded the fellow senator, saying despite completing the military operation in some agencies, access is being denied to lawmakers, that was not acceptable.
He said that it was the responsibility of the government to audit all expenditure incurred in the military operation, adding it is need of the hour that the development in tribal areas should be transparent or it might give birth militancy once again.
Meanwhile, the lawmakers severely criticized the government for handpicking Captain (r) Shujaat Azeem – “a disgraced officer” of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) – as adviser to prime minister on aviation despite a court decree against him as he was court-martialled by PAF.
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