Opp demands debate on children kidnapping case

PA to debate children kidnapping issue today 

LAHORE: Demanding an immediate withdrawal of a notice served on an TV anchor by Public and Prosecution Department for his social media post about children kidnapping issue, the opposition in Punjab Assembly called for debate on the issue. 

Responding to the demand of the Opposition, Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Iqbal directed to hold debate on children kidnapping issue in the province on Friday (today). 

The PA session Thursday started with a delay of over one hour with the speaker in chair. After the conclusion of the question hour session which was related to the ministries of Excise & Taxation and Higher Education Department, Arif Abbasi, PTI MPA, expressed anger over issuance of warning notice to a TV anchor over his social media post about children kidnapping issue. 

He said in Business Advisory Committee meeting it was deiced that children kidnapping issue would be debated in the ongoing session, but no time was given to hold debate on the issue whereas only one day was left in its conclusion.

The PTI legislator said this was really very unfair on the part of the government that if someone spoke of his heart at social media, he was treated as culprit and if someone raised an issue on electronic media, he was served notice by Pemra. 

Opposition leader Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed on the occasion complained children kidnapping issue was to be taken in the session as per the decision but it wasn’t done. He demanded debate on the issue and the speaker reserved Friday (today) to hold debate on the issue. 

Responding to criticism from the opposition, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said social media was a very important medium of information in current age which was also going on parallel with other mediums like TV and print. He said the role of social media couldn’t be ruled out but at the same time, the government wanted to regulate it so that no one could spread such information which was far from fact and meant to create harassment among people.

Rana Sana stated that the anchor had only been served a warning notice for his post regarding the kidnapping of children, adding: “It is a notice, not an FIR”. 

He stated the issue would be resolved after the anchor submitted his reply. 

However, the answer didn’t satisfy the opposition and Khurram Jehangir Wattoo, PPP MPA, demanded the Punjab government to allow live coverage of the Punjab Assembly proceedings. He stated Sindh Assembly proceedings were given live coverage, even the BBC covered the House of Commons live but the Punjab government didn’t allow the live coverage. The speaker on the occasion said proceedings were given coverage. 

Speaker, Aslam Iqbal bury the hatchet: Speaker Rana Iqbal and PTI MPA Aslam Iqbal came to terms in the presence of Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, Opposition leader Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed and other MPAs at the PA Committee room.

Both had exchanged heated words on Wednesday during a question hour session when Tanvir Aslam Malik, Punjab Minister, was unable to satisfy the questioner about the issue related with availability of clean drinking water in PP-148.

Later, Rana Sanaullah Khan appreciated the speaker and the PTI MPA for showing good gesture for each other. He said the demand by Mian Aslam Iqbal regarding the visit of the minister and his team to the area he mentioned was justified and advised Tanvir Aslam Malik to discuss the issue in detail with the questioner. 

JI Parliamentary leader walks out: Dr Waseem Akhter, JI parliamentary leader, staged a walkout in protest against the alleged sale of liquor in Punjab, during the question hour session. During the question hour session, Zakia Shah Nawaz, Minister for Higher Education, while responding to a question by MPA Maulana Illyas Chinioti stated that the government had planned to set up colleges in every area. She stated that efforts were under way to address the complaints in the sector. 

Adjournment motions: Sheikh Alla ud Din through an adjournment motion expressed serious concern over the poor performance of universities and their failure to meet the criterion set by Higher Education Department. He stated 50 out of total 73 universities, institutions of general categories couldn’t get even 50 marks out of 100, according to a survey. He said these institutions were spending millions on their advertisement and surely earning billions from students but their performance was awful which needed attention. The motion was made pending. Sheikh Alla ud Din on the occasion also stated that most of the buses were out of order.

An adjournment motion by Ejaz Shafi, PML-N MPA from Rahimyar Khan, a day ago, was also referred to the committee. In the adjournment motion, Ejaz Shafi had stated in Khanpur, district RYK, local Tehsil Municipal Administration had caused huge loss to national exchequer while converting illegal residential areas into commercial land. He said for the last eight years, 50pc of the residential plots in Model Town A and B were turned into commercial plazas and shops. He said even on the land of public parks, shops had been set up, adding massive corruption had been committed there and the issue must be debated.