Ruling party preventing compulsory teaching of Holy Quran, alleges JI leader

Assembly session adjourned due to lack of quorum

LAHORE: Opposition parties in the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday criticised the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for allegedly preventing the passing of Compulsory Teaching of the Holy Quran Bill 2017.

The bill, moved by Jamaat-i-Islami’s lawmaker Waseem Akhtar on January 30, was in the assembly’s agenda on Wednesday. However, an MPA belonging to the ruling party pointed out lack of quorum upon which Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Mohammad Iqbal Khan first adjourned the session for five minutes, then for another 20 minutes before adjourning the session till May 3.

Disappointed by the proceedings, the opposition parties termed the lack of quorum a deliberate attempt to ‘sabotage’ the bill. “They have created a hurdle in the passing of the bill,” Akhtar told The Express Tribune.

Citing Article 25A, the bill states that providing free and compulsory education to all children was the state’s responsibility. The bill said that “being an Islamic country, the free and the compulsory teaching of Holy Quran will definitely be a source of the establishment of a society based on the teachings of Islam.”