File photo of K-P Assembly. PHOTO: AFP
PESHAWAR: The rising incidents of custodial deaths in Peshawar echoed in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly on Monday.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan (MMAP) lawmaker Humaira Khatoon presented a call to attention notice (CAN) as the provincial assembly resumed after a near-four week hiatus on Monday.
In her notice, Khatoon contended that multiple incidents of inmates dying in police lockups of Peshawar have become points of concern for the people. She said that the death of a suspect in the Khan Raziq police station recently was not the first such incident to take place.
The MMAP lawmaker asserted that there had been reports of other, similar incidents in the city including at the Hashtnagri, University Town, Yakkatoot, and East Cantonment police stations. She demanded that the government take notice of the matter and adopt measures to bring such incidents to a halt.
“The growing number of custodial deaths have created a sense of insecurity amongst the public and they were quite perturbed and upset over the matter, therefore, keeping in view the importance of the matter, this house must be provided with real facts, for addressing the concerns of the people,” Khatoon stated in her CAN.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Nighat Orakzai pointed out that she had already submitted a similar question whereby the home ministry had been asked about the number of custodial deaths in Peshawar over the past two years.
She, however, lamented that the relevant department has yet to respond to her question in the house.
K-P Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ghani sought a detailed reply from the provincial police department and the home department on the matter.
Musharraf verdict
The recent verdict by a special court in the treason trial of former dictator General (retired) Pervez Musharraf was also debated in the house.
Opposition parties suggested that the government must refrain from tarnishing the image of the judiciary if it disagreed with the verdict.
Leader of the Opposition Akram Khan Durrani contended that the court had given a verdict per the law and the Constitution. The government, he lamented, was slandering the judiciary instead of adopting a legal recourse.
“The judge is being termed a mental patient,” he complained.
Khushdil Khan of ANP said that PHC Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth was a brave and intelligent man and he has always abided by the law. He expressed support for the court’s verdict and said that they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the judiciary for punishing a dictator.
The house unanimously adopted a resolution by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Ayesha Bano seeking the establishment of a comprehensive biometric system in the jails of the province to count jail inmates.
She contended that comprehensive Prison Management Systems were being enforced across the world which contained the data of convicts and other prisoners and that similar systems need to be introduced here.
India condemned
The assembly unanimously condemned the oppression of Muslims by Indian security forces in occupied Kashmir and demanded that the federal government tackle the issue through diplomatic channels.
This was demanded in a joint resolution of the opposition and treasury benches moved by Orakzai. The resolution stated the legislation brought by Indian parliament against Muslims was pitiless and had also been criticised by members of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
The K-P Assembly demanded that the federal government raise the issue with the Indian government to stop brutalities against Muslims. K-P Law Minister Sultan Muhammad said that people in Kashmir are facing problems of edible items and routine use items owing to the 140-day curfew. He said that the decision of the Indian Supreme Court over Babri Mosque had unveiled the true face of India before the world.
Durrani urged the government to take the issue of Kashmir seriously.
Bills tabled
The provincial law minister tabled the K-P Emergency Rescue Service (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the K-P Power Crushers (Installation, Operation, and Regulation) Bill, 2019 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The minister also tabled the ‘Annual Report 2017 of Provincial Ombudsman, Report on first Biannual Monitoring on the Implementation of NFC Award (July-December, 2016) and a report on the second Biannual Monitoring on the Implementation of NFC Award (January-June 2017)’.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2019.
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