NA proceedings: Govt says oath on Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (SAW) exists in Haj form

ISLAMABAD: As the opposition raised the issue of deletion of Oath of Finality of Prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) from Haj Forms 2020-2021 in the National Assembly, the Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri told the House that the oath was never removed from the original Haj forms.

The minister further informed the House on Monday that all around 150,000 applicants for the Haj 2020-2021 have signed the Oath on Khattam-e-Nabuwwat (SAW) or put their thumb impressions on the same. “The Qadianis, Lahori Group or those who call them as Ahmadis or those who do not believe in finality of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) are His (SAW) enemies and we cannot think of sending them for performance of Haj,” he said. To support his claim, the minister also displayed some Haj application forms received by different scheduled banks and read out the text of the oath as contained in banks.

The PML-N parliamentarians including Chaudhry Barjees Tahir, Khurram Dastgir, Saad Waseem and others raise the issue in the House through a calling attention notice. Chaudhry Barjees Tahir said that it was a matter of concern that the Oath on Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (SAW) was deleted from the Haj application form.

The PML-N member demanded of the minister to tell the House as to what action was taken against those deleting the oath from the application form. The minister, however, insisted that the oath very much existed in the original Haj application and it had been signed by the all around 150,000 applicants.

He further said the Oath was not mentioned on the data form which was required to be submitted to the Saudi government.

Noorul Haq Qadari told the House that it was Prime Minister Imran Khan the first who send him message on the Whatsapp asking him to look into the matter.

Barjees Tahir, however, said he was not satisfied with the statement and explanation given by the minister demanding that responsibility should be fixed for deletion of the Oath. “Those who committed the sin should be awarded death penalty,” he said.

Khurram Dastgir also contended that the Oath was removed from the application and later separate page was attached with the form. He demanded constitution of a committee of the House to check and scrutinize forms having Oath on finality of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) which are required to be submitted in different government departments.

The Minister for Religious Affairs did not oppose suggestion for constituting a committee as proposed by the opposition members.

The parliamentary leader of PML-N Khawaja Muhammad Asif reiterated demand of formation of a committee of the Parliament to probe into flour and sugar crisis.

Referring to a report submitted by the FIA into crisis, the PML-N leader said the government instead of outsourcing the inquiry, should get this through the Parliament.

“There can be no forum better than the Parliament to expose hands behind the crisis,” he said. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while responding on behalf of the government did not oppose the demand. However, he said an inquiry had been ordered on the basis of findings of the FIA.

“We have no issue to form Parliamentary Committee if the report does not satisfy your questions,” Qureshi said. Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry expressed concerns over absence of the Opposition Leader Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif from the House. He said the House should find a new opposition leader saying probably Khawaja Asif might be aspiring for the position.

The National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution condemning the attacks of Hindu extremists on peaceful protestors in India especially in New Delhi against controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.

The resolution moved by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan condemned communal violence against the Muslims.

It urged the government of Pakistan to raise this matter in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and UN Security Council compelling India to ensure security of Muslims and minorities, prevent Human Rights violations and take strict action against the culprits.

The House today passed four bills including “The Legal Aid and Justice Authority Bill, 2020”, “The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020”, “The Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020” and “The Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Bill, 2020”.

The government hardly managed to get the Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Bill, 2020 passed by the House.

The opposition pointed out lack of quorum as the Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul moved the bill for passage. The bells were rung for five minutes once the quorum was found incomplete.

Later the Speaker was about to adjourn proceedings, while two PTI members entered the hall which completed the quorum.

Earlier, the PPP parliamentarian Abdul Qadar Patel requested the chair to refer the bill to the concerned standing committee saying it should not be passed in haste.

At the outset of Monday’s proceedings, the House offered Fateha for the departed souls of Col Mujeebur Rehman Shaheed, who was martyred in an operation against terrorists in Dera Ismail Khan, former Mayor Karachi Naimatullah Khan, the passengers died in various accidents in Skardu, Bagh in Azad Kashmir, and those who died in a building collapse in Karachi. The lawmakers prayed Almighty Allah to rest the rest departed souls of Muslims, martyred in India and Occupied Kashmir at the hands of Indian forces. They also offered Fateha for the Muslims died of coronavirus across the globe.