Opposition outcries over NATO troops

ISLAMABAD—The lawmakers from government and opposition benches continued debate on October 8th earthquake and opposition members strongly opposed the arrival of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops in the country.
MMA Secretary General and opposition leader in NA Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday debate in the House Maulana Fazlur Rehman said we are thankful to international community, however arrival of NATO troops in Pakistan is wrong step. Our Jawans are working well and there is no need of NATO and US troops, they should be send back.
He also made it clear that these troops could be used by their states for political mileage.
Maulana Fazl also said MMA had already tabled a resolution in NA demanding a debate over the issue of presence of NATO troops in Pakistan and speaker had assured us that the debate over the issue will take place on Monday.
He also asked why government is not taking parliament into confidence what it has done so far in relief and rehabilitation activities.
He said government should constitute a Parliamentary Committee, which should be assigned the job to assess what is coming in form of relief and where and how it is used.
At present only people are scoring points and this is wrong, he maintained.
Taking part in debate State Minister for Defense Zahid Hamid urged the nation to show unity in this testing hour because the country is passing through a critical juncture in the aftermath of killer earthquake.
Military also suffered the brunt of earthquake as 456 Jawans had been martyred in AJK whereas 750 suffered multiple injuries, but despite this heavy loss Pak Armed forces mobilized its resources in relief and rescue operation.
12 helicopters initially started airlifting relief goods to quake hit areas and now the number of this fleet has reached 90, which is helping a lot, he added.
He also revealed that Geological Survey of Pakistan has placed Islamabad at third level of seismic activity zone while Muzaffarabad has been placed at level 2.
Taking part in the debate Syed Zafar Ali Shah said that the number of tents government dispatched to quake affected areas are not enough and even these tents are not winterized either, government should take immediate steps in this regard.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s Bakhtiyar Mani in his remarks said in a society where injustice, vulgarity and inequality prevails then Allah’s Wrath do come.
He said supporting United States in killings of over 60,000 people in Afghanistan showed us this day as Allah Almighty has shown us what He can do.
This is a warning from Almighty therefore we should amend our way of living style, he underscored.—Online