Govt, opposition clash in NA

ISLAMABAD: The issue of US national Raymond Davis, who killed two people in Lahore, became a bone of contention between the federal and Punjab governments in the National Assembly on Tuesday when PML-N legislator Khwaja Saad Rafiq sought the government's clarification on reports that the federal government was passing the buck to the PML-N on this issue.

However, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the law would take its own course and no special treatment would be given to the US citizen. On a point of order, Khwaja Saad Rafiq said the federal government had two faces - one for the nation and second for foreigners.

Responding to a point of order raised by Khwaja Saad Rafiq in the National Assembly, Kaira said President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had already cleared the position of the Government of Pakistan, saying Raymond Davis would be treated according to the law of land.

He said the government was taking this issue very seriously, and investigations were underway and would also be shared with the house. "There is no difference between the federal government or the Punjab government and there is no issue of passing any buck to it," he said.

Earlier, Akhunzada Chattan, who belongs to Fata, made a sensational speech on a point of order and said if reforms were not be introduced in Fata by abolishing the controversial FCR, the people of Fata would have the right to raise a freedom slogan in line with the Baloch youth.

Chattan said the Fata people wanted peace and were tired of fighting with the US and Russia. "We also want to progress, we want that our children should get education, we want health facility and it all depends on abolition of the FCR from Fata and introduction of the law of land there," he added.

Lauding the government's move to give district status to Kala Dhaka, he said Fata people were also looking for reforms in the FCR. He said the Political Parties Act should also be extended to the Fata, which could usher in a new area of progress and prosperity in the area.

The Fata MNA asked if the FCR was the best system, why it was not extended to other parts of the country. Through another point of order, PML-N legislator Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch raised his voice of concern over increase in incidents of kidnapping for ransom in Balochistan, especially in Quetta.

He said there was no government working in Balochistan despite having a cabinet of 60 members out of 65 members of the Provincial Assembly as keeping such a heavy cabinet was also against the spirit of the 18th Amendment.

Giving a wake up a call to the federal government, he said the debate on the situation of Balochistan should be held in the National Assembly, so that a solution could be evolved, adding the province was slipping out of govt'shands day by day.