Arabic language bill gets Senate’s nod

The upper house of the parliament has approved a bill that makes Arabic language a mandatory subject from class 1 to class 12. According to the bill, basic Arabic will be taught from class-1 to class-5 while Arabic grammar will be taught from class-6 to class-12.

All lawmakers supported the bill moved by Senator Javed Abbasi of the PML-N except Senator Raza Rabbani of the PPP, who declared it “an attempt by the state to impose the Arabic culture”. Rabbani said: “Arabic should be taught as an optional subject. Making it compulsory will be inappropriate.”

Minister for State on Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, however, defended the bill. He said an understanding of the Arabic language is necessary to become a good Muslim as it is the language of the Holy Quran.

“Article 31 of the Constitution also says that the state must take measures to enable people to live a life according to the Quran and Sunnah,” the minister added. Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the JUI-F also supported the bill and said the people who don’t know Arabic oppose the bill.

The senator cited names of PPP’s Aitzaz Ahsan and Rehman Malik and Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan and said these people could not even recite most simple Quranic verses.

Rehman Malik, however, rejected the claim and recited Surah-e-Ikhlas. But once again, he made mistakes during the recital, which created a humorous situation.

Read more: Compulsory teaching of Holy Quran bill passed in Punjab Assembly

Bills were also introduced to amend the Pakistan Penal Code 2021, Child Labor Contract Act 1933, Service Tribunal Act 1973 and Bill for Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Senator Javed Abbasi introduced the bill to amend the Customs Act 1969 but the same was opposed by the treasury benches. The minister for parliamentary affairs opposed forwarding the bill for review by the concerned Senate committee. The Senate chairman postponed the bill.

The members held discussion on a bill proposed by PPP’s Sherry Rehman pertaining to climate change and its impact on Pakistan. The bill called for serious steps to conserve the environment.

Summing up the discussion, Minister for State Zartaj Gul demanded that a climate emergency be imposed in the country. She said Pakistan’s location makes it vulnerable to climate change “so there is a lot of work to be done with regard to climate change”.

“Pakistan is moving in the right direction in terms of environmental conservation,” she said, adding that the government is working to improve the use of biogas as fuel for vehicles. “We have reduced pollution to a great extent and have given three years to the oil industry to upgrade their technology.”

The Senate session was adjourned till Thursday 10.30 am.