ISLAMABAD - The ruling coalition in the centre on Friday drew flak from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for allegedly doling out civil awards on political grounds on the Independence Day – a move that was defended by the government.
The opposition party also raised alarm in the House over the missing portrait of the country’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in an official advertisement released to national media on August 14 – the Day of Independence.
A day earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari had conferred civil awards to politicians and members of the cabinet of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, besides others, in recognition of their contributions during India-Pakistan standoff in May this year.
After PTI Senator Faisal Javed in his maiden speech following his re-election as a lawmaker raised the issue, the government assured the House of a probe into the release of the official advertisement sans a portrait of the founder of the nation.
Senator Faisal alleged the government of demeaning the prestige of national awards by conferring them sans merit. “This is the insult of the people who truly deserved receiving these awards,” he said, adding that many people deserved awards but others did not.
Pointing out the matter of the official advertisement, he stressed that the ruling elite had not spent the amount on these ads from their pockets, rather the public money had been used for personal promotion. “They even put their photographs when a public toilet is built,” he remarked.
A day earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led federal government invited criticism on social media over the official Independence Day advertisement issued by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, without the images of the country’s founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and national poet as well as philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
The advertisement, published in major national newspapers and aired on television channels, featured President Asif Ali Zardari, PM Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and other services chiefs.
In his response, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar assured the House of a probe into the release of the ‘controversial’ official advertisement.
“It is not in our notice. If it has happened, this is heart-upsetting for all,” he said.
He assured that an inquiry would be held to ascertain how it happened, and the House would be formally informed about the progress.
Senator Tarar, who himself received Nishan-e-Imtiaz, defended the distribution of civil awards among politicians - all belonging to the ruling coalition. He said out of the total around 200 recipients of the civil awards, only some 15 were politicians. He said these included eight, who were part of the team led by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari that visited different countries after heightened tension with India.
The rest were members of the ‘war cabinet’ formed by PM Shehbaz during the war with India, who spent many sleepless nights to make them available for emergency decisions all the time, he added.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhary informed the House that internet services in Balochistan would remain suspended from August 6 to 31 due to security concerns.
Responding to a call attention notice, the minister said the action had been taken under a 2009 policy directive issued in the light of Section 8 of Pakistan Telecommunication Re-organization Act 1996, which dealt with the closure of telecom services due to national security concerns.
He explained that the Ministry of Interior takes the decision through a process after it receives a request of closure of internet services form stakeholders linked with security matters and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the telecom regulator, implements the same.
Refuting some claims, Tariq Fazal said that telephone services were functional completely, while all road and rail networks and private as well as state-owned airlines were operating throughout Balochistan. “The closure of internet services has been made purely due to security concerns, counter terrorism and improving law and order situation,” he said, adding that such action is taken as a pre-emptive measure in the light of intelligence-based reports.
“Balochistan has been facing an increased number of terrorist attacks in the recent weeks and months,” the minister said and referred to the Jaffar Express train incident and attack on a bus of Army Public School in Khuzdar.
He also assured the House that internet packages purchased during the suspension period would not expire, and their credit would be automatically transferred to the next month’s package to protect users from financial losses.
Earlier, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Kamran Murtaza speaking on his call attention notice drew attention of the government towards the suspension of mobile internet services across thirty-six districts of the province on the pretext of security.
The House unanimously passed a resolution, reaffirming the resolve to protect the sovereignty of Pakistan, preserving its democratic ethics and building a prosperous future for generations to come.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the resolution, to mark Independence Day, which pledged to strive for sustainable development, economic empowerment and national unity.
The resolution also expressed commitment to promoting peaceful co-existence, regional stability and constructive engagement with neighbouring countries.