ISLAMABAD: A legislative body of Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday condemned the brutal murder of Professor Javed Bhuttoo, a renowned Pakistani intellectual and scholar in US, and directed Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take up the matter with its American counterpart for detailed inquiry.
These views were expressed during a meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Overseas, with Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman in the chair.
The committee discussed matters pertaining to welfare of overseas Pakistanis. Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman and other members of the committee expressed their sympathies with the family of Prof Javed Bhuttoo and called upon the quarters concerned to provide justice to the victim family. The matter was raised during the meeting by Senator Sassui Palejo. She said that Prof Javed Bhuttoo was a noted scholar and liberal face of Pakistan. She said that the matter needs to be investigated thoroughly to provide justice to the victim family.
The committee also condemned the brutal murder of Shakirullah who was languishing in a prison in India. The committee termed the highhandedness of Indian authorities a brutal act. The chairman of the committee said that Indian leadership had lost its senses and was trying to divert attention of the people from real issues which India was facing on political, economic and social side. He said that the treatment meted out to Shakirullah in Indian jail was highly unfortunate. He lauded the role of the security forces especially Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force in the recent standoff between Pakistan and India, adding that the political leadership of the country has also shown exemplary unity in their ranks.
Senator Samina Saeed raised the issue of illegal occupation of a piece of land owned by an overseas Pakistani, Nasir Awan, in Gujrat. She said that Nasir Awan’s family was passing through testing times as he has drained out all his finances on litigation for seeking justice. She said that the family was unable to bear the expenses of their children for education.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minster, Zulfiqar Bukhari informed about the plans of the ministry about utilization of land for the benefit of overseas Pakistanis. Secretary Overseas Pakistani informed the committee that 102 kanals in Islamabad and 76.4 kanals in Lahore had been retrieved which would be used for housing projects for overseas Pakistanis and a transparent mechanism would be adopted for allotment.
Senator Ayub Afridi proposed a comprehensive policy for addressing the issues being faced by the overseas Pakistanis.
Among others, the meeting was attended by senators Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Faiz Muhammad, Nighat Mirza, Najma Hameed, Sassui Palijo, Muhammad Ayubv Afridi, Samina Saeed, Dr Shehzad Waseem, Special Assistant to Prime Minster Zulfiqar Bukhari and senior officers of the ministry concerned.
