Outrage in K-P Assembly: Legislators condemn desecration of holy Quran by US troops

The assembly also approves amending NDMC Act, transferring authority to the province.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Saturday condemned the desecration of the holy Quran at Nato’s Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, through a unanimous resolution. The issue was taken up by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) lawmaker Hafiz Akhtar Ali on a call attention notice.

In his remarks, Akhtar Ali drew the attention of the house towards the burning of copies of the holy Quran by US troops at the Bagram airbase, and said that this act had deeply hurt the feelings of Muslims all over the world. “In the past, US forces also committed similar desecrations at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison and at Guantanamo Bay,” he added.

Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Barrister Arshad Abdullah also agreed with Akhtar Ali, and added that US President Barack Obama had apologised over this incident. The joint resolution was moved by Akhtar Ali, provincial ministers Bashir Ahmed Bilour, Rahim Dad Khan, Israrullah Khan Gandapur, Abdus Sattar Khan and Qalandar Lodhi, condemning the blasphemous act.

Amendments to NDMC Act

The provincial assembly also adopted amendments to the National Disaster Management Cell Act 2010, while another bill to regularise services of Ilaqa Qazis in Malakand was tabled in the House.

The bill was moved by Law Minister Abdullah and was adopted by the House, with four amendments suggested by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Zameen Khan. The bill replaced the District Authority and District Disaster Management Authority with District Unit and District Disaster Management Unit, while the authority would be managed by provincial authorities.

The director general will also present the income and expenditure report on an annual basis for approval of the provincial authority, detailing funds from both the provincial and federal governments, while accounts would be audited on a yearly basis.

Senate elections

Earlier when the House met, members belonging to both treasury and opposition benches indulged in self-praise over the Senate elections, which according to lawmakers were fair and free. However, Minister Gandapur said that there was room for further improvements.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2012.