‘Honour killing amendment bill to land in next NA session’

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) was informed on Thursday that the government was working to amend the laws relating to honour killing and a new amendment bill in this regard would be introduced in the House during next session.

Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael told the House during question hour that the government is committed to ensure human rights of its citizens as envisaged under the Constitution as well as international commitments by adopting all possible measures to ensure protection and promotion of such rights.

He said the review and revision of existing law on honour killing is priority of the government. He said the recent cases of violence against women in different parts of the country have been taken up with the concerned quarters for immediate necessary action under the law.

The minister also placed details of honour killing cases of Maria Sadaqat, Ambreen and Nazia Hameed. “The recent cases of violence against women including burning of Maria Sadaqat in Murree, Ambreen at Abbottabad and Nazia Waheed at Kasur have also been taken up with the concerned quarters for immediate necessary action as per law,” he said.

To a question, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad informed the House that National Highway and Motorway Police is working round the clock to regulate traffic, ensure safety and provide assistance to all road users.

He said a number of measures have also been taken by the motorway police to control speeding and wrong overtaking. He said speed checking is being carried out by patrolling officers and speed checking squads with the help of day and night speed checking cameras.

He said for education of the road users safety awareness campaign, seminars and walks are organized and printed material are also distributed.To a question, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

told the House that 14 locations of Balochistan have been identified for gas supply during the current fiscal year under  community development programme. He said an amount of 547 million rupees have been allocated for these projects. He said the projects will be completed by June next year.

To a question, he said although there is shortage of gas all over the country but the situation is much better as compared to the previous years.He said the industry was provided gas two days in a week while the fertilizer plants were without gas supply while due to the government’s prudent policies, now the industrial sector is being provided gas completely and the situation of the CNG sector is also improving.