Nilofar Bakhtiar appointed NCSW chairperson

LAHORE: Nilofar Bakhtiar has been appointed chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) for a term of three years.

“The decision of the committee that interviewed and voted for the chairperson should have been respected. However, the appointment of the NCSW chairperson was vital and now one is there. There is a lot of work to do,” said Bushra Khaliq who heads Women in Struggle for Empowerment (WISE). The office was vacant since November 1, 2019.

The Sangat Development Foundation (SDF), which has been time and again raising the issue of need to appoint heads of the National and the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women, welcomed the appointment. Asma Aamir of the SDF said violence against women has increased manifold and hoped the commission will do something to control that. Kanwal Liaquat, PMLN MPA, was also on the forefront in highlighting the need for appointment to these vacant seats. She said she is happy to know that the NCSW chairperson has been appointed. "I have moved an adjournment motion and a resolution and submitted questions multiple times for appointing the chairperson of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women in the Punjab Assembly. My questions appeared on the Punjab Assembly agenda last month and were discussed on the assembly floor. The news gives me hope that soon we shall hear of appointment to the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women as well."

Meanwhile, rejecting the appointment of Nilofar Bakhtiar as chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), PPP legislator Dr Nafisa Shah has termed it contempt of parliament, saying that the appointment of Nilofar Bakhtiar is tantamount to a robbery of law.

“Fauzia Waqar got six votes in the Parliamentary Committee on appointment of chairperson on National Commission on the Status of Women while Nilofar Bakhtiar got 5 votes. So how the decision of the parliamentary committee which was held under parliamentary traditions and rules could be overturned,” she said, adding that the appointment of Nilofar Bakhtiar is against parliamentary traditions and rules and the government is making the commission related to women controversial. “This act of the government is not only contempt of parliament but also insults the women of Pakistan,” she said and demanded that the government withdraw the appointment notification.