LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Waseem Akhtar on Wednesday accused the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of deliberately preventing the adoption of Compulsory Teaching of the Holy Quran Bill, 2017.
The bill was moved by Akhtar in Punjab Assembly on January 30 and it was in the assembly’s agenda on Wednesday. However, an MPA belonging to the ruling party pointed out lack of quorum upon which Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Mohammad Iqbal Khan first adjourned the session for five minutes, then for another 20 minutes before adjourning the session till May 3.
Talking to media, Akhtar said, “They have created a hurdle in passing of the bill.”
The opposition parties in Punjab Assembly termed the lack of quorum a deliberate attempt to ‘sabotage’ the bill.
Citing Article 25A, the bill states that providing free and compulsory education to all children was the state’s responsibility. The bill said that “being an Islamic country, the free and the compulsory teaching of Holy Quran will definitely be a source of the establishment of a society based on the teachings of Islam.”
