Senate panel clears bill to outlaw Zionism

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate Standing Committee on the Interior disposed of a heavy agenda, discussing the bills on stiffening the punishment for terrorism and rape, as well as outlawing Zionism as a religion and its propagation during a meeting on Thursday.

The committee, which met here with its chairman Faisal Saleem in the chair, also approved the bill aimed at creating a National Forensic Agency (NFA). It also discussed the land protection in the federal capital bill.

The committee resumed its debate on the Anti-Terrorism Amendment Bill. Presenting the bill, Senator Palwasha Khan said that Chinese delegations were attacked in the past few days. She said that the attack in Karachi did not happen in the limits of the airport.

The interior secretary told the committee that people did not come to the airport armed with weapons. However, Senator Palwasha Khan quipped that guns for 9-11 incident was passed through airport. She asked the detractors as to what were their objections.

"Everyone saw the robberies at four banks in Islamabad. A few days ago there was a robbery incident with an employee of the Senate. There is a need to make the country's entry points more secure," the senator told the committee.

During discussions on the National Forensic Agency Amendment Bill, the project director of NFA told the committee that they wanted to establish a regulatory agency through the bill. He added that crimes were rife in Pakistan at inter-provincial and international levels.

This agency, he said, would be able to establish contacts at the international level and its annual report would be submitted to the prime minister. Senator Shahadat Awan suggested that the annual report should be submitted to parliament along with the prime minister. Later, the bill was approved.

Senator Afnanullah presented a bill against practising and propagating Zionism as a religion. The bill outlawed the adoption of Zionism as a religion and knowingly propagating it through its distinctive symbols. It proposed the punishment of three-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs40,000.

Afnanullah said that this punishment should be awarded to those creating division in society and promoting hatred through Zionism. He added that there were people in Pakistan who support Zionism.

He added that Zionists considered sexual abuse and murder of children and women of opponents of their ideology to be permissible; therefore, it was necessary to stop the promotion of Zionist literature. This bill is being introduced to stop these abuses. The committee unanimously approved the bill.

The committee formed a subcommittee on an amendment bill aimed at keeping the sexual assault accused in prison for life. While briefing the committee on the bill, Senator Mohsin Aziz said that at present the punishment in rape cases was very little, which should be increased.

Senator Samina Zehri said that currently the country followed 50-year old laws, which needed to be changed. However, Senator Shahadat Awan opposed the bill, saying that there were already laws regarding the rape accused. He also opposed an abrupt increase in the punishment for rape.

The Interior Secretary told the committee that the punishment for sexual abuse of disabled, underage and mentally disabled persons was very severe in the law. "In the Pakistani law, such crime is punishable by death," he said.

After thorough discussion, the committee formed a subcommittee for further discussion on the bill, and submit its report in 10 days. The subcommittee would also include representatives of sthe law and interior and the human rights ministries.

In the committee, Senator Palwasha Khan presented the Shamilat Land Protection Amendment Bill. During the meeting, the deputy commissioner of Islamabad presented his report on the matter, which highlight contradiction in its definition by various departments.

Shamilat in Islamabad means it is a private property, but in the rest of the districts, Shamilat land meant it was a public property. The report said that when the Capital Development Authority (CDA) acquired any space, it included Shamilat land. The chair sought more data on the matter.