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Thursday March 28, 2024

Opp walks out over Black Friday

By Asim Hussain
November 25, 2017
LAHORE: The Opposition in Punjab Assembly staged a walkout against government’s inaction over following the Christian traders’ tradition of pre-Christmas sales in the name of Black Friday and warned they will not join the session unless government took measures to stop systematic insult to the Muslims' holy day of week and removed all the boards and hoardings in this regard.
Soon after the Question Hour on Friday, leader of the opposition Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed rose on a point of order and drew Speaker Rana Iqbal Khan’s attention towards what he called government’s turning face from the systematic insults to the Muslim holy day by calling it black. He asked if everyone in the government was asleep towards blatant promotion of anti-Islamic practices in a Muslim country. “Are the rulers trying to promote western culture in the country. Have they gone blind in following the west. Why they are taking every dictation from the West. What message they want to convey to the young generation,” he aksed.
He demanded that government should ban Black Friday celebrations, remove all the boards and hoardings of Black Friday from the streets till the Friday prayers, and take action against all those promoting this offensive tradition in the Islamic country. The opposition members raised slogans against the government and in favour of the Islamic character of Pakistan.
Not only the opposition members, including Sadia Suhail Rana and Khadija Umar, the members from treasury benches Umar Farooq also condemned the blind and unchecked following of western and Christian traditions in the country. The opposition members walked out of the House when the speaker refused to give any ruling on the issue. Later, Provincial Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman said the government supported the Opposition’s stance on the issue of Black Friday and assured the Speaker that the government would take necessary measures to remove boards, hoardings and banners promoting this western tradition.
The House also adopted a resolution calling for inclusion of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat belief as subject in the syllabi of schools and colleges. The movers of the resolution, jointly tabled by treasury and opposition benches, included Waheed Gul, Maulana Ilyas Chinioti, Allama Ghayasuddin, Begum Zakia Shahnawaz and Raheela Khadim Hussain. The resolution stressed that in view of the vital importance of this belief, it must be conveyed to the young generations through the syllabi.
Later, Opposition member Nabeela Hakim Ali indicated that House was lacking quorum. The Speaker ordered ringing of bells twice but quorum could not be completed which forced the adjournment till Monday.