Govt assures action against PTI for beating journalists

Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Chaudhary Birjees Tahir Monday assured the House that action will be taken against those responsible for repression on protesting PTI leaders and workers in Lahore on Saturday last. He was replying to points raised by opposition members.

He also referred to the Prime Minister’s statement taking notice of the police action against PTI workers and asked the Chief Minister to prevent steps so that such incidents in future.

Earlier‚ on points of order‚ Shafqat Mahmood‚ Shah Mahmood Qureshi‚ Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah‚ Tariqullah‚ Shaikh Rashid Ahmad and Syed Asif Hasnain condemned the police action against protesting PTI workers in Lahore and snatching of their mobile phones. They demanded action against the responsible persons.

Syed Asif Hasnain also raised the issue of target killings in Karachi. The opposition also staged a token walkout to protest the incident.

The National Assembly was informed that the government has taken a number of steps to increase the export of mangos.

Replying to another question‚ Minister of State for Privatization Khurram Dastgir Khan on behalf of Minister for Foreign Affairs informed the House that no written agreement existed regarding drone strikes. However‚ he said there may be some understandings given during the dictatorial regime when the drone strikes started in 2004.

Khurram Dastgir said the present government has ended the era running the foreign policy through understanding. He said it is the efforts of the government that every kind of agreement with the foreign countries should be available in the written form.

He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had raised the issue of drone strikes with US Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Pakistan and as a result there is considerable reduction in drone strikes. He said the government is also making efforts to immediately stop these attacks.

The Minister of State said Pakistan regards the use of drone strikes as counter-productive in achieving the shared goal of counterterrorism. These strikes also create anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.

Answering a question‚ Khurram Dastgir told the House that Pakistani forces are giving appropriate reply where the Indian forces are violating Line of Control and resorted to unprovoked firing. However‚ he said it is not the policy of government to escalate the situation. He said the government is pursuing a policy of peace in the region.

The Minister of State while replying to another question said there should be no violation of Indus Water Treaty. He said the government is in contact with the Indian government to regulate the flow of waters in the rivers from India.

He said under the Indus Water Treaty restriction have been placed on the design and the operation of hydroelectric plants‚ storage works and other river works to be constructed by India on the Western Rivers. He said the treaty provides a procedure for the settlement of differences and disputes. He said Pakistan has been diligently voicing its concerns on the violations of Indus Waters Treaty committed by India.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Aug 26 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.