There ensued yet another showdown in the National Assembly session held on Friday as the PML-N members headed on a collision course with the government benches over the latter’s opposition to MNA Afzal Khokhar’s privilege motion. Khokhar had demanded action against the Lahore administration for “attack(ing) his house despite a restraining order.” With stinging criticism of the government quarters and utter commotion on the floor, leaders of his party laid siege to Speaker Asad Qaiser’s dais. Such unusual was the chaos that at one point, Speaker Qaiser reprimanded PML-N Secretary-General, Ahsan Iqbal: “Is this the way you talk?”
While the leaders’ language was deemed unbecoming by many sitting in the house, PMLN-Secretary Maryam Aurangzeb’s controversial video of talking into Khokhar’s ear seems to have taken the cake. Aurangzeb was seen feeding the MNA lines; encouraging him to target PM Imran Khan (using defamatory keywords “salai machine” and “Zaman park”). The overzealous parliamentarian even used the occasion to direct other party members to drown out treasury benches. Calling on female MNAs to approach the speaker’s dais, she made the concoction of noisy politics all the more thick! If what happened in the NA session cannot be described as absolute pandemonium, hardly anything can!
The issue of land grabbing was also brought to the limelight when PM’s Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs, Dr Babar Awan, criticised Khokhar’s motion by asserting that the august house could not protect “land mafia,” whether they were parliamentarians or held any influential portfolio. PML-N leader could have done his homework before calling for the inquiry motion. When the much-touted stay order had already been vacated by the court, the parliamentarian did not have any ground left to demand action.
For long, encroachments have destroyed our cities, damaged our waterworks and cut down our forests. It is quite sad that when the legislators should have openly supported the government’s quest against influential land grabbers, they are looking out for their own pockets; not working for public reforms.
Given the name-calling and non-stop rounds of allegations, the parliament seems to have fallen prey to utter raucousness. The very assembly that is supposed to enshrine the values of democratic debate, public accountability and effective legislation now produces nothing but colourful headlines. And the iron-fisted determination of the opposition parties to view everything from a biased lens ought to hold the major blame for this chaos. Verbal matches and sky-high emotions turn every debate–may it be in either house–into a potential walkout situation. January alone has seen more than its fair share of tense scenes. An earlier Senate session saw opposition members calling the country’s premier accountability agency “Guantanamo Bay” where no rule of law was said to have applied. Only last year, a bitter clash ensued over caustic remarks by former NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq accused the government of falling into Indian pressure by releasing the captive Indian pilot, Abhinandan. A number of sessions have been marred by emotions running high on all sides; causing a furore.
It should be made clear that members from all benches have repeatedly violated the decorum rules governing parliamentary procedures. This is something no political party can (ideally) make light of); forcing its members to abide by the sanctity of the house. Nevertheless, in this particular situation, PML-N leadership has spelt out its preference for toxicity in lieu of constructive debates. Rather than working in harmony with the treasury benches to enable an environment that works for the good of all Pakistanis, many of them are busy shouting the government down. Only mature and sensible lawmakers can play an effective role in holding the government to its word. The present bunch of screaming, squealing and crying preschoolers won’t just do.
Nuke ban and Pakistan
The world is fixated on bidding farewell to the legacy of Hiroshima bombings. In yet another effort to get rid of unlimited militaristic aggression, the UN recently celebrated the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty–in over five decades–coming into force. But treading the waters of nuclear deterrence is tricky business! Due to a lack of signatures from any state, known or believed to own nuclear weapons, a press release by Pakistan’s foreign office has claimed to not be bound by the treaty’s obligations.
Calling the ban treaty negotiations “outside the established UN disarmament negotiating forums,” Pakistan has stressed, “this treaty neither forms a part of nor contributes to the development of customary international law in any manner.”
Pakistan was among the 35 states, including the P-5 nations and even India, that did not attend the deliberations, which are believed to have failed to consider the legitimate interests of all concerned parties. India holds similar reservations and has also asserted that despite its commitment to internationally verifiable global nuclear withdrawal, “it doesn’t think the current treaty takes into account the verification process.” The US has gone to the extent of calling out the treaty for “turn(ing) back the clock on verification and disarmament.” The treaty has failed to garner support from NATO members, Australia or even South Korea because of their perceived reliance on the US nuclear weapons for their national security. The fact that Japan, the only country to have ever faced nuclear devastation, has also refused to sign the treaty, for the moment, speaks volumes about the effectiveness of the nuke ban.
Looking closer to home, Pakistan has, every now and then, reiterated its commitment to the disarmament process, which is to be achieved while ensuring undiminished security for all states’ armaments and military forces at all times. For this, the state is ready to sit at all tables and discuss consensus-based cooperation with all stakeholders. Amid the growing nuclear arms complex on South Asian shores, Pakistan’s atomic facilities received a favourable rating by an independent American study last year. It was said to have considerably improved its nuclear security; faring even better than India. During a visit to Pakistan in 2018, International Atomic Energy Agency head, Yukiya Amano, had also praised Pakistan for holding ground on its “commitment to nuclear safety.” So much so that Pakistan makes its case for the Nuclear Suppliers Group membership on the grounds of being immensely forthcoming in legally binding commitments.
Therefore, all Western notions regarding Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal falling into the wrong hands should be treated as nothing but conjecture. Yes, we need to save ourselves from nuclear stockpiling. A mere 100 nuclear weapons can easily destroy the whole world and there are substantially more nukes in individual arsenals. The sooner the global community comes together to realise the dangers of this ongoing arms race, the better.
But Pakistan is not just ready to give up its right to security when others are not willing to do so. The day the entire world denounces the acquisition of nuclear weapons as the deadliest to humanity, we will surely lead the field. Until then, our secure arsenal should be reassuring enough
