The opposition in the National Assembly expressed concern on Friday at the situation of the victims of the earthquake and criticised the army for its policy of secrecy.The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that coordinated efforts by the civil and military authorities were required to provide relief to the affected people. âThe relief operation should be supervised by the members of the parliament instead of the army,â he said.
He repeated claims that the army was intentionally misreporting its casualties in the quake, and claimed that approximately 3,000 army personnel, including one brigadier and five colonels, had lost their lives. âAround 3,000 soldiers died up in the mountains, but the army spokesman was assuring the nation that all was well,â he said, adding that the earthquake had exposed the militaryâs inefficiency.
Qazi said that relief operations should be conducted by the civil administration under supervision of the members of parliament, so that the details of the operation are transparent. âThe army does not allow the audit of its activities, and then expects us to believe them when it says that its accounts are in order,â he said.
The MMA president also stressed the need to immediately open schools for refugees. He also criticised western media reports suggesting that Al Qaeda was entering Kashmir under the pretext of relief activities. âIslamic welfare trusts should not be prevented from providing help to their brethren based on mere doubts,â he said. Qazi also targeted President Pervez Musharraf for usurping power and rendering the parliament powerless.
Azra Fazal of the Pakistan Peopleâs Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) regretted that Pakistan was the leading producer of tents but was suffering from shortage in a time of crisis. âThe government should supply food to the people in remote areas, instead of helping industrialists stockpile desperately needed goods to create artificial shortage and increase prices,â she said.
Education Minister Lt Gen (r) Javed Ashraf Qazi said that the army was taking every possible step to ensure the safety of the affected people with assistance from local and foreign relief workers.
He said that 450 army personnel died in the earthquake and 600 were injured. âThe army could not get immediate damage reports because the entire communication system was damaged by the quake,â he said.
He said that the federal government has decided to restart tent schools in all affected areas and teams have been sent to assess the situation.
Health Minister Nasir Khan said that the government was providing every possible medical facility to the affected people in far-flung areas. He also ruled out the spread of any epidemic, saying that adequate preventive measures have been taken. âAdoption of children orphaned in the quake is absolutely out of the question. The government is trying to reunite the children with their families,â he said.
Earlier, Mehnaz Rafi of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) suggested that the National Assembly adopt a particular area for rehabilitation and use the Assemblyâs funds for this purpose. However, Naheed Khan of the PPPP opposed the motion, saying that the National Assembly represents the federation of Pakistan, and should not favour a particular area.