Ag AgenciesISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI/PESHAWAR: Following demand from the opposition parties on floor of the National Assembly (NA), the government on Tuesday decided to hold joint sitting of the Parliament, in the wake of Indian aircraft’s intrusion in Azad Kashmir. The Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies strongly condemned Indian aggression on Tuesday.The demand of joint sitting of the Parliament came from veteran PPP parliamentarian Syed Khursheed Shah who said a message of unity should go to the 207 million people and armed forces. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces for the security and defence of the motherland,” he said.He said there was a war like situation and a joint session of the Parliament should immediately be convened to discuss the security situation. The member from treasury and opposition benches expressed the resolve to stand united and shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces to defend every inch of the motherland. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said India just like the past resorted to cowardly act in the darkness of night but Pakistani Air Force gave a befitting response and forced the Indian aircraft to retreat. He said Pakistan was a peace loving country but Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be misconstrued as its weakness. “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state, but if India does not refrain from provocations, the Pakistani nation will give a befitting response,” he said.He said that following meeting of the National Command Authority (NCA), the prime minister would also brief the parliamentary leaders to take them into confidence.Khawaja Asif of PML-N said Pakistan should boycott the OIC meeting as protest in Abu Dhabi where Indian External Affairs minister has been invited as a guest of honor. He said that OIC should have taken opinion of member countries prior to invited Indian minister as guest of honour.Khawaja Asif it was not time for politics rather there was need to rise above from political affiliations and give a joint message of unity to armed forces and the nation.Syed Fakhar Imam said India had challenged the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan. He said the armed forces and the nation have the capability and capacity to give a befitting response to India.He supported the opposition’s demand that a joint session of the parliament should be convened to give a joint response to the Indian provocation.Former speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said Pakistan should impose ban on all imports from India pointing out that OIC could invite anybody to its meetings without consultation with the member countries.Amir Haider Khan Hoti of Awami National Party (ANP) while observing that Indian leadership was playing with fire for the sake of politics, demanded joint sitting of the Parliament where the services chiefs should also be invited.He said Pakistan should send delegations to the OIC countries and register protest over the invitation of the Indian external affairs minister to the OIC meeting.Khalid Hussain Magsi of Balochistan Awami Party said war was being imposed on Pakistan by India for the sake of political gains. He regretted silence of the international community on gross human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.Hina Rabbani Khar of the PPP said the entire world is seeing India as an aggressor and extremist state.Khurram Dastgir of PML-N said Pakistan should step up diplomatic efforts to expose the extremist face of India before the world.Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination, Fehmida Mirza said Modi Junta is perturbed over the importance, Pakistan is assuming in the region because of its strategic position and its role in the Afghan peace process.Mir Khan Jamali said Pakistan’s peace, stability and prosperity is not digestible to India and that is why it is resorting to such acts.Naz Baloch of PPP said Modi is doing the politics of hate to win the upcoming elections. She warned that any misadventure by India would have disastrous consequences for the whole region.Amjid Ali Khan of PTI said India is also hatching conspiracies to destabilise Pakistan.In his observation, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser categorically stated that Pakistani nation will defend the motherland till their last breath. He said Pakistan is a peace loving nation but any foreign aggression will be dealt with iron hands. He said the world should support Pakistan’s overtures for peace and stability in the region.Syed Javed Husnain of PML-N said violation of the Line of Control by India is unacceptable. He said Modi is staging such a drama in order to win the upcoming elections.Parliamentary Secretary on Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas said world major capitals do not accept Modi’s narrative on terrorism. “The House will send a categorical message that if India resorted to any other aggression, then we will launch ‘Raddul Bharat’ on the pattern of Raddul Fassad operation,” she said.Shahida Akhtar Ali of MMA said the morale of our forces is very high and they are second to none.Agha Hassan Baloch of Balochistan National Party regretted that despite peace offers by Pakistan, India has resorted to aggression.Minister for Communications, Murad Saeed said the House had sent a loud and clear message to world that Pakistani nation knows how to defend the geographical boundaries of the country.Abdul Qadir Patel of the PPP said they have full confidence in the capabilities of Pakistan’s armed forces.Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul said India would be given response for violation of LoC and entering Azad Kashmir territory.Meanwhile, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan told the National Assembly on Tuesday that a joint sitting of Parliament would be summoned on February 27 (Wednesday) to give a unified response to the aggression and violation of LoC by India.Speaking in the National Assembly, he appreciated the government and Opposition benches for speaking with one voice on the Indian belligerence, adding sons and daughters of the nation would defend the country.He said the joint session would be a clear message to the enemies of the country including India and Israel.Punjab Assembly on Tuesday unanimously condemned Indian intrusion in Muzaffarabad sector besides federal government to expose the nefarious face of India before the United Nations.The resolution was moved by former Senior Minister and PTI MPA Abdul Aleem Khan and was taken out of turn by the House. The resolution stated that Punjab Assembly ‘vehemently condemns war frantic India for coward intrusion in Muzaffarabad sector.”It also stated that it had been the tradition of the neighbouring enemy country to launch cowardly attack at night. The resolution also praised Pakistani Air Force for timely responding to the Indian intrusion and forced the Indian aircraft to retreat.Paying rich tribute to the country’s armed forces, the resolution also stated that Pakistani nation had full confidence in the defence capability of country’s armed forces.The resolution also stated that the Indian government, in order to win the upcoming elections, is bent upon using all negative tactics and Pulwama incident was its example. The Pakistani government had already strictly denied its’ involvement in that incident, said the resolution.The House through the resolution demanded the federal government expose the real ugly face of India before the United Nations. The resolution was moved and passed unanimously by the House.The PA members while condemning Modi government for its crime against humanity also vowed to safeguard every inch of the Pakistani homeland.Uzma Kardar, the PTI MPA while speaking on the floor of Punjab Assembly stated that India had started to face global isolation due to the policies of its Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mahender Pal Singh, the PTI Sikh MPA while condemning the Indian government for perpetrating cowardly acts stated that Pakistan was the land of Baba Guru Nanak and once Modi government cast an evil eye towards it, India would be the worst to suffer.Saadia Sohail Rana of PTI while condemning nefarious designs of the Modi government said that Pakistani nation was united under one flag and it could never compromise on the issue of country’s sovereignty.Sheikh Allauddin of PML-N, while coming hard on the Indian government stated that since day one, he had been opposing trade with India.Syed Hassan Murtaza of PPP, Tariq Masih Gill, Khalil Tahir Sindhu of PML-N also participated in the debate and condemned Indian aggression and violation of human rights in Kashmir.The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution condemning the Indian airstrikes near Balakot and termed it a cowardly act.Malik Liaqat of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) moved the joint resolution signed by members of the opposition.It said that Pakistan was a peace-loving country and it always advocated the promotion of peace in the region but its desire for peace should not be construed as its weakness.The resolution said the entire nation was behind the armed forces and would not hesitate to render any sacrifice for defending every inch of the motherland.This assembly also assures the armed forces that the 220 million people of the country were united and would defend the ideological and geographical boundaries of the country. Narendra Modi is using such tactics in a futile attempt to win the election, it added.Earlier, speaking on the issue opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani, parliamentary leader of Awami National Party Sardar Hussain Babak, Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Nighat Orakzai of Pakistan People's Party and Mahmud Jan and Fazle Elahi of PTI condemned the Indian aggression.They said the nation was united and stood by the armed forces to give a befitting response to India. The lawmakers said there was no division when it came to defending the country.The Indian leadership is trying to win the election through the escalation of tensions, but it should know that Pakistan was strong enough to defend itself, the lawmaker said.The armed forces and the people are ready to render any sacrifice to protect the country, they vowed.The assembly passed with a majority the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (amendment) Bill, 2019 and the KP Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (second amendment) Bill, 2019 amid the chants of 'shame' shame' and 'no' 'no' from the opposition benches.Speaker Mushtaq Ghani put the bills to voting when the opposition members stood in front his the dais. They protested his decision of putting to vote the issue of appointment of director general of the Galiyat Development Authority instead of sending it to the committee concerned.Aurangzeb Nalotha through a question sought details about the director general's appointment, salary, perks and privileges and qualifications. He was not satisfied with the answer and wanted the matter to be referred to the committee.However, Law Minister Sultan Muhammad opposed referring the matter to the committee and the speaker put it to a vote that prompted the opposition to circle his dais.The speaker adjourned the session sine die amid the protest and slogans of the opposition.Meanwhile, Punjab Assembly also passed resolutions to express condolence over the deaths of former Opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Rana Shaukat Mehmood and former MPA Rana Tajamul.The Provincial Assembly of Sindh suspended the private members’ business on Tuesday and discussed the Indian violation of Pakistani airspace, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Daily Factsheet.The House met for three hours and 35 minutes. The sitting started at 1230 hours against the scheduled time of 1000 hours. The Speaker presided over the sitting for two hours and three minutes while the Deputy Speaker chaired the rest of the sitting.The House unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Indian violation of Pakistani airspace. As many as 31 lawmakers debated the resolution for two hours and four minutes.Moved by a PTI lawmaker, the House adopted a resolution calling for celebration of birthday of Hazrat Fatima (RA).The ministers for Population Welfare and Health responded to four out of six Starred Question while remaining two questions were not taken up. In addition, the lawmakers asked 23 supplementary questions. The House was adjourned to meet again on February 27, 2019 (Wednesday)
02-27-2019, 11:17 PM
Punjab, Sindh, KP assemblies slam Indian war frenzy
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