ISLAMABAD - Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday ruled out any possibility of military operation in North Waziristan Agency.
Speaking to reporters here, the minister said the conspiracy to attack Malala Yousafzai was hatched by militant groups operating at Pak-Afghan border.
“For the time being there is no plan for military operation in North Waziristan. But if needed, the decision would be taken by political and military leadership of the country in harmony,” he said.
The minister thanked the UAE government for providing an air ambulance to transfer Malala Yousafzai to Britain for treatment.
Malik revealed that the militants have planned to target some media houses and anchors while the intelligence agencies are working to get sensitive details about the plan.
The minister said that there are alerts regarding the probable militants’ attack on some of the media houses and anchors. He continued saying that he has instructed the intelligence agencies to gather complete information in this regard.
He said the conspiracy to attack Malala Yousafzai was hatched by militant groups operating at Pak-Afghan border.
He further said that the civil and military leaderships are in consultations over the matters of national importance and decisions are made with consensus.
Separately, due to the absence of ‘ailing’ Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the Senate, the House in its Monday’s short session could not dispose of two commenced motions regarding deweaponization of Karachi and over all law and order situation in the country with particular reference to targeted killings in Balochistan, Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The interior minister had assured the chair last Friday that he would be available in the House by Monday to answer the queries of the lawmakers on the subject. Senator Hasil Khan Bazenjo who also had to talk on the poor law and order situation of Khuzdar, Balochistan, informed the chair that Malik via telephone had told him about his illness and thus he could not attend the proceedings.
Senator Mohsin Leghari said the matter was between the minister and the House and that he had given commitment, so a privilege motion should be moved against Rehman Malik. The House left all the agenda items unaddressed before it was adjourned till 10am on Tuesday. Senate Chairman Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari remarked that the other agenda of the House could not be taken up, as the minister was not present to respond to the two commenced motions.
During Monday’s brief proceedings, two opposite voices came in the House from treasury sides on the private member day as Tahir Hussain Mashhadi from MQM viewed that deweaponization of Karachi alone would be discrimination and he called for deweaponizing the whole country. While Saeed Ghani of PPP said that Karachi should be deweaponized to make it an example for the whole country.
Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, the mover of the commenced motion regarding de-weaponization of Karachi, said the police had been politicised and claimed that every station house officer (SHO) knew who used to provide the weapons to terrorists. “The sources should be pointed out from where the weapons were being supplied,” he added. He remarked that the performance of spy and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) needed to be improved.
Farough Naseem, another MQM lawmaker said the influx of weapons in Karachi should be stopped. Saeed Ghani was of the view that deweaponization throughout Pakistan and particularly Karachi was necessary, and disagreed to the suggestion that deweaponization of Karachi alone would be discrimination.
Senator Hamza said that deweaponization is meant to free the country from illegal and unlicensed weapons. He held the government responsible for mess in Karachi. He said that the police in Sindh had been politicised where chief executive of the province through an executive order was busy in giving out of turn promotions to police officers. He said rule of law in the country should prevail and favouritism should be condemned.
Ms Kalsoom Perveen said rumours were being circulated throughout the country through message services that armed forces themselves engineered the firing incident on Malala Yousafzai for staring an operation in North Waziristan. “The army does not need any justification to start any operation anywhere as it could act wherever law and order situation would become deteriorate,” she added.
The chair deferred the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan Bill, 2012 moved by Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan when the minister concerned informed the chair that another government bill with the same objects and reasons was present in the National Assembly. The minister further said that the NA bill could be amended if needed when it would be placed before the Upper House of the Parliament.