Falling in line: G-B lawmakers pay rich tributes to Samina Baig, brother

Table bill against harassment of women at workplace.


Shabbir Mir May 21, 2013
“We demand the siblings be given a presidential award for their achievement,” said Mutabiat Shah. PHOTO: FILE

GILGIT:


The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution paying tribute to Samina Baig, a resident of G-B who became the first Pakistani woman to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak.


The resolution sailed through the house a day after the media highlighted the lack of recognition given to Baig’s achievement in the G-B Assembly. Samina Baig, 21, and her brother Mirza Ali achieved a rare mountaineering feat on Saturday as they set foot on the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal.

“We demand the siblings be given a presidential award for their achievement,” said Mutabiat Shah, a lawmaker who tabled the resolution. “Baig is a role model for the rest to follow,” he added.

Samina Baig has become the first Pakistani woman to achieve the feat while her brother is the youngest Pakistani to hoist the national flag on the summit. The siblings’ ascent came just days away from the 60th anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s successful bid to tackle the Himalayan peak on May 29, 1953. Only two other Pakistani mountaineers, Nazir Sabir and Hassan Sadpara, have conquered the mountain before.



On Tuesday, the house also unanimously passed a bill tabled by a lawmaker against ‘Harassment of Women at Workplace’. The bill had already been reviewed by a committee before being presented to the house for approval.

Though Chief Minister Mehdi Shah was absent, a number of lawmakers in the house expressed their reservations over the delay in issuing tenders for development schemes in their respective areas. They demanded the process be initiated immediately, so complaints could be promptly addressed. Speaker Wazir Baig later adjourned the session till today (Wednesday).

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2013.

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