President appoints new CII members

Selected nine include one female member, two retired justices

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Husain on Friday appointed nine new members of Council of Islamic Ideology, including one female and two retired justices, for a period of three years.

The nine membership posts were lying vacant since March 5 2017 due to which the council remained nonfunctional.

A notification issued here on Friday states that these nine members are Professor Dr Farkhanda Zia, Dr Syed Muhammad Anwer, Maulana Shafiqur Rehman Pasruri, Allama Syed Iftikhar Hussain Naqvi, Maulana  Muhammad Hanif Jallandhry, Ahmed Javed, Pir Fazeel, Justice (retd) Muhammad Raza Khan and Justice (retd) Syed Manzoor Hussain Gillani.

While talking to The Express Tribune Chairman CII Dr Qibla Ayaz expressed complete satisfaction over the newly appointed members and said that they all have been appointed on merit.

“All newly appointed members are highly intellectual and have strong grip over their respective fields. Their in-depth knowledge and expertise will help CII to give suggestions which will be best for the interest of this country and for its people,” he said.

Sharing the details he said that this time once again only one female member Prof Dr Farkhanda Zia who is a professor at the International Islamic University (IIU) and has expertise in international laws and fiqh has been appointed.

Earlier this post was occupied by the daughter of the late Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Dr Samia Raheel Qazi.

Meanwhile Qari Muhammad Hanif Jalandhari, who is the secretary general of the Wafaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia and also represents Ulema community, has once again become a member of CII.

Dr Ayaz further said that the first council meeting after including the new members will be held sometime in July.

“In the meeting few important bills like early child marriage and suggesting penalty on giving three talaq in one go will be on top of the agenda,” he said.