Teaching Quran be made ‘compulsory at varsities’

Senate also passes bill to further amend State Bank Act, 1956

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate on Monday unanimously passed a resolution recommending teaching of Holy Quran with translation, tajweed and tafseer should be made compulsory in all universities for students of all disciplines, without making it part of examinations or provision of additional marks so that focus should remain on acquisition of learning and knowledge.

The upper house of parliament passed another resolution aimed at inculcating detailed and comprehensive knowledge of the Seerat of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) in the minds of the younger generations.

Both resolutions were moved by Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, saying the two were in line with the constitutional provisions.

The Senate passed another bill to further amend the State Bank Act, 1956 by a majority vote.

During the meeting, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani directed members suspended by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to leave the session, on which they left the house.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sanjrani.

Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar condemned the killing of former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Abdul Latif Afridi. There should be no negligence in the investigation of the murder, he said.

Leader of the Opposition Shehzad Waseem expressed his concern over the delay in the results of local government elections in Karachi.

Waseem said that the worst hooliganism and rigging were done in the Karachi LG polls.

Senator Mohsin Aziz presented a bill for further amendment in the State Bank Act, 1956, saying that banks considered Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to be incompatible for business.

“The conditions for loans are strict,” he added.

The government senators opposed the bill. However, on the demand of the opposition leader, voting on the bill was conducted, in which 26 votes were in favour and 20 against it.

The Senate passed the bill to further amend the State Bank Act, 1956.

Further, the Senate unanimously passed the Members of Parliament Privileges and Immunities Bill, 2022 aimed at facilitating parliamentarians in peculiar circumstances to perform their constitutional duty without any hindrance and preventing the arrest of any member under any law pertaining to preventive detention.

The bill was moved by PPP Senator Raza Rabbani.

Clauses four and five stated that when an FIR was registered or reference filed against a member, the chairman or speaker, as the case might be shall be informed within 24 hours.

Clause 6 stated that on the production order signed by any authorised officer, the federal government or the provincial government or such other authority, shall cause the member parliament to be produced before the sergeant-at-arms, who shall after the conclusion of sitting or the meeting, deliver the MP back into custody.

In response to a question on the official visits of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Senator Sherry Rehman said the international community commended Pakistan’s leadership and diplomatic efforts during COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh and the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan in Geneva. “It is clear that the PTI cannot accept Pakistan’s success at the international level.”

On the foreign visits, she said: “It is the foreign minister’s job to take Pakistan out of the international isolation that the PTI has plunged the country into.” The climate minister said, “This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a foreign minister is footing the bill for his expenses from his own pocket.”

The Senate meeting was adjourned till 11am on Tuesday.