Senator, on Thursday, unanimously condemned a ban imposed on Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) by the Indian government in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.
JI chief Sirajul Haq presented the resolution passed unanimously by the upper house. It read, “the House strongly condemns the ban on JI in the occupied valley”.
The legislators claimed that the party was engaged in educational, social and political activities in the territory, and therefore it was sheer injustice to ban it.
The resolution urged the federal government of Pakistan to raise this issue at every international forum.
A week ago, the Indian government had imposed a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami in its occupied territory, arresting over 400 leaders and activists.
Meanwhile, the opposition senators raised the issue of Attorney General’s (AG) objectionable letter written to the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation.
The Senate was apprised about the letter of AG as it considered the cases of PIA employees recently dismissed by the PIA management in wake of fake degrees. The opposition senators questioned how could the AG accuse the parliamentarians of committing contempt of court. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani said that he would be formally asked to explain the text of his letter written to the Committee on Aviation.
PPP Senators Mian Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman, as well as PTI lawmakers Nauman Wazir, Faisal Javed and Azam Swati, also spoke over the issue.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan said in this regard, “We believe in the sovereignty of the Parliament and Attorney General should be listened about this letter whether it was the opinion of the federal government or of his own.” Calling the standing committees the real strength of parliament, he added that it would be of no use if its standing committees were stuck or their functionality was limited. The leader of the Opposition in Senate, Raja Zafarul Haq, also spoke on the occasion with regard to the political point scoring being committed by the ruling party over the illness of the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He regretted that no proper medical treatment was being provided to him. To demonstrate protest over the absence of proper medical facilities to Nawaz Sharif, the entire opposition staged a walkout.
Published in Daily Times, March 8th 2019.
