Punjab Assembly: Resolution passed against former envoy

‘Shamsul Hasan’s remarks on Ahmadis disgraced National Assembly’

LAHORE:

The provincial assembly adopted a resolution on Friday condemning former high commissioner to UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan for allegedly saying that declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims had been a bad decision.

The session, chaired by Deputy Speaker Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani, also approved amendments to the Punjab Institute of Quran and Seerat Studies Bill, 2015. The session which lasted less than two hours was attended by ministers for law, special education, mines and minerals, minorities and human rights and zakat and ushr.



An Urdu newspaper had attributed to Hasan a statement that former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had declared Ahmadis non-Muslims under pressure from religious parties.

Waheed Gul had raised the issue on Thursday causing an uproar in the House. The movers submitted the draft resolution in the Assembly Secretariat after altering it following a discussion with Law Minister Rana Sanaullah.

It calls on the federal government to take action against Hasan. It says his remarks had “insulted” the unanimous decision of the National Assembly. The resolution said the former envoy’s statement had hurt Muslims.

Question hour

Of the eight queries posed by lawmakers related to the Information and Culture Department, no response was received on four.

Gorchani reprimanded Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Culture Rana Arshad for failing to get the department’s response. He also issued a ‘final warning’ to all ministers and parliamentary secretaries in this regard.

Gorchani later criticised the bureaucracy for not taking the proceedings seriously. “The bureaucracy has made a mockery of the House,” he said.

Some lawmakers expressed concern regarding privilege motions not being addressed. Gorchani criticised the members for failing to pursue the motions. He said 90 per cent of the privilege motions were settled between lawmakers and the parties concerned. He ordered the assembly secretary to submit a report on the number of privilege motions addressed by standing committees and those settled ‘unofficially’.



Parliamentary Secretary for Law Nazar Gondal said an inquiry had been launched against five officials following the publication of a wrong map of Pakistan in textbooks. The map had featured Hazara and Seraikistan ‘provinces’.

He said more than 300,000 kilogrammes of carcass meat had been seized from markets across the province. He said an awareness campaign had been launched and a toll-free helpline introduced to curb the substandard meat trade.

Sheikh Alauddin said the House had not dealt with the issue of overdue payments to sugarcane growers adequately. He said sugar mills owners had claimed in an advertisement that payments to growers could be made if loans were provided for the purpose by the government.

The chair informed the House that the food minister had said during the previous session that 90 per cent of sugar mills had made the payments. He ordered, however, that the minister and Food Department officials attend the Monday’s session to respond to lawmakers’ queries in this regard.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Mian Aslam Iqbal said there was a sugarcane mafia in the House. Sheikh Alauddin remarked that the PTI’s Jehangir Khan Tareen was among the mill owners who still owed money to farmers. Iqbal then proposed registration of cases under terrorism charges against those guilty of non-payment. “Such people should be named and shamed irrespective of their political affiliation. Make them accountable.”

Some lawmakers demanded licences for carrying prohibited weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, for self-defence. The law minister urged them to first get training from the Elite Force to be able to use the weapons. “This [carrying weapons] is not a joke.”

Gorchani and Sanaullah asked the members to submit a resolution to get a sense of the House on the issue.

The session was later adjourned until Monday afternoon.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2015.