Sindh acts to implement NAP in letter and spirit

Cabinet approves drafts of two bills to regulate madrasas and NGOs in province; draft of Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Bill 2016 also okayed

Karachi

With the objective of implementing the National Action Plan against terrorism in letter and spirit, the new Sindh cabinet has approved the drafts of two bills to adopt a mechanism to register religious seminaries and monitor their funding as well as for keeping an eye on non-governmental organisations in the province.    

The cabinet, which met at new Sindh Secretariat building on Saturday with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in the chair, accorded approval to the draft of the Sindh Deeni Madaris Bill 2016 and the Sindh Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies’ Bill 2016. 

The proposed bill for the registration of madrasas and the monitoring of their funding will soon be tabled in any of the upcoming sessions of the Sindh Assembly.

Chairing the meeting, the chief minister said NAP’s implementation would be ensured at any cost, and to achieve that goal, madrasas would be registered. He said his government would fully support the seminaries while madrasas too were under an obligation to cooperate with the government in this regard.

Shah let every member of the cabinet speak their mind about the two drafts. The cabinet constituted a committee headed by Adviser to CM on Law Murtaza Wahab to improve the madrasa bill draft. 

The committee, whose members include former aide to chief minister on religious affairs Dr Abdul Qayyum Soomro, will approach leading representatives of religious scholars and clerics in the province to seek their suggestions for the proposed law.

The cabinet also approved the draft of the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Bill 2016.The proposed piece of legislation, which would be referred to a select committee for bringing about improvement, is aimed at giving the right to citizens to get information on the working of the provincial government.

The cabinet also took into consideration a bill to amend the Sindh Arms Act 2013 and decided that the proposed amendment bill would be reviewed once again.

It constituted a committee to further consider the draft of the Conflict of Interest Bill 2016 and the committee for the purpose would comprise Law Adviser Murtaza Wahab, Minister Mohammad Bux Khan Mahar and Jam Ikramullah Dharejo and the chief secretary. The committee would present its report on the proposed bill in the next six weeks. The bill is meant to ensure good governance in the province and to ensure  transparency in working of the government.

The meeting resolved that the cabinet would reconsider the draft of the proposed Defamation Bill 2016 with the proposal to constitute summary trial courts or tribunals for deciding complaints in defamation cases as in the original draft of the bill there was no provision for decreeing interim orders while there was also overlapping jurisdiction of different authorities in the proposed law.

The meeting deferred consideration of the agenda items related to proposed amendments to the rules of business of the government, the constitution of proposed terms of reference of the Special Security Division and the proposed law for the collection of Ushr.

The chief minister said the committees constituted to consider the drafts of the proposed bills had to complete their task within the given time.

Speaking to media after the cabinet meeting, Information Adviser Moula Bakhsh Chandio said the provincial government had started taking steps for implementing NAP in letter and spirit.

He said the Sindh Police, Rangers and other law-enforcement agencies had been playing their due role in preventing crime and terrorism in the province.

Law Adviser Murtaza Wahab said the cabinet meeting had earlier in the day considered a number of drafts of proposed bills to be tabled in the Sindh Assembly. He said the drafts would soon be finalised.

He said all religious seminaries would be registered in the province and their funding monitored under the proposed new law. 

The law adviser said the meeting also considered the draft of the Right to Information Bill, which would enable any concerned citizen to get  the required information regarding the working of government through correspondence. He said the Pakistan Peoples Party considered the right to access to information as one of the basic rights of the people.

Wahab said a number of NGOs had been working in Sindh and there were reservations regarding their security and funding matters. He said the proposed legislation would make it binding to get clearance from the home department for the registration of any new NGO. He said that under the purposed law, suspicious elements would not be able to register NGOs in the province. 

To a question, Moula Bakhsh Chandio said the army and other security agencies had made it clear that NAP had not been fully implemented. He said this showed the failure of the federal government and alleged that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had proved to be a failed interior minister of the country.

He said the fact that the prime minister had to intervene and constitute an implementation committee showed that the federal government had failed to implement NAP.

Responding to another question, the law advisor said a number of people, including the interior minister, had resorted to politicking on the issue of extension of special policing powers of the Sindh Rangers and stay of the paramilitary force in the province in aid of the civil administration and police. He said the Sindh government was quite clear on the issue, and its position was ultimately endorsed by the federal government. 

Wahab said the Sindh Assembly had the final authority to extend the special powers of the Rangers, but since the government’s stance had been accepted by all the quarters concerned, there was no controversy over the issue.

He said the targeted operation being conducted in Karachi against criminals and terrorists would continue.