ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has submitted an adjournment in Senate to discuss the Parachinar attack and the subsequent tense situation in the area.
Addressing a protest camp set up outside the National Press Club in Islamabad on Thursday, Senator Farhatullah Babar demanded a judicial investigation into the incident and more state compensation for victims’ families.
He also demanded that the local Kurram Militia be allowed to play its role in restoring peace under the supervision of the security agencies as it had been doing in the past. “The prime minister should visit Parachinar immediately to assuage the resentment of the people,” he said.
“An adjournment motion has already been submitted in the Senate to discuss the tragic incident,” he said. Referring to the disparity in compensation to the victims of oil tanker tragedy and the Parachinar attack, he said: “The rulers must quell the perception that a body in Punjab fetches two million, in Sindh 1 million, in Balochistan half a million and in FATA and tribal areas it is only worth Rs 0.3 million.”
“Such a perception will be disastrous for the federation. Because of its location and past history, Parachinar has already been over-militarised. It is known to have one of the largest concentrations of security check-posts and CCTV cameras in the region. Yet Parachinar has witnessed repeated militant attacks in the past few months. The security forces are still clueless about from where the militants came,” he said.
“We must investigate the glaring security lapse instead of accusing the local people,” he said. He said that Parachinar had been made a no-go area for the media, the parliamentarians and human rights activists. “This must change so that misconceptions are not allowed to gain strength,” he said.
He said that the reports that security forces fired on grieving demonstrators must be investigated. “The trigger-happy personnel responsible for the excessive and thoughtless use of force must be punished,” he said.
Published in Daily Times, June 30th, 2017.
