Govt under attack over ISI

“ISI that is a guarantee to the sovereignty of Pakistan is being suppressed in the world through notification. The ability of this department was recognised in the world during Afghan war. The ISI was placed under Interior Ministry to please the United States. For the first time, former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had used ISI for political purposes by laying foundation of political cell,” Agha alleged.

However, Rabbani turned down allegations of the Opposition and said that the coalition government was ensuring the internal security and external grace of the country by all means. He said that the Western press was against the present government because the latter had taken firm stance over Pakistan’s sovereignty. He also said that the present government was empowering the Parliament by putting its energy policy, issues related to the security and foreign affairs on the floor of the House for debate.

PML-Q Senator Javed Ashraf Qazi said that the country was facing biggest-ever challenges of its history. He also severely criticised the government for putting ISI under the administrative, financial and operational control of the Ministry of Interior. He urged the government to immediately withdraw the notification issue in that regard, as the Interior Ministry had no any idea about the functioning of ISI.

He said that there was no political cell in ISI. He informed that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had created a counter-intelligence cell with the orders to report him the internal security situation of the country on daily basis. He said that the same was the only wing among six of the ISI wings which operated inside the country, and was later used by the politicians for political purposes.

Qazi rebutted the allegations against the secret agency for creating a ‘state within a state’, which he said was impossible, as no official remained within the agency for more than three years. He said that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had written in her latest book “Reconciliation - Islam, Democracy and the West” that the ISI assisted her government in whatever strategy she evolved for the internal and external security of the country.