ISLAMABAD: Minister for Human Rights Dr. Shireen M. Mazari has said the government is absolutely not silent over the case of Pakistani prisoner Shakirullah, who was brutally beaten and stoned to death in an Indian jail.
Speaking at the Senate, she said it is an international issue and we are finding the most appropriate convention to register the case under international crime. She said the body parts of Shakirullah were missing after the post-mortem.
PPP central leader senator Sherry Rehman and other members have also strongly protested over the packing of body parts of Shakirullah after the post-mortem. She stated that Pakistan has released the Indian pilot as peace gesture and on the other hand India was sending Pakistani prisoner dead body. Other members stated that several organs of his body were missing. His heart, lungs, stomach and a large portion of his brain were not in his body.
Fifty-year-old Shakirullah was serving a life term in India’s Jaipur Central Jail in Rajasthan. On February 20, he was killed by inmates following the Pulwama attack. On March 2, India’s Border Security Force handed his body over to the Punjab Rangers at the Wagah Border.
Earlier, Minister for Postal Services Murad Saeed has said that Pakistan Post has managed to increase its revenue by 212 percent in the last four months due to effective steps taken by the government. He was responding to a bill in the Senate on Monday.
The Minister said branches of Pakistan Post have been increased to 27,000 across the country and electronic money order, export parcel services, Urgent Mail Service, and E-commerce service have been introduced to attract more customers.
He said Pakistan Post had been facing a loss of 92 billion rupees and the government is taking steps to make it profitable department after controlling losses by August this year. Two bills were passed in the Senate. These include “The Day Care Centers Bill, 2018” and The Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Interest on Private Loans Bill, 2017.
Three bills were also introduced in the House, which include “The Islamabad Compulsory Vaccination and Protection of Health Workers Bill, 2019”, “The Post Office Bill, 2019” and “The Pakistan Courier and Logistics Regulatory Authority Bill, 2019”.
The Chair referred the bills to the concerned standing committees. Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar has expressed the confidence that fiscal deficit this year will remain below 6.6 percent. Responding to a motion in the Senate, he said that economy is passing through a stabilization phase and will be on path of sustainable development in next one year.
The Minister of State said the government has taken various steps to improve economy which resulted in reduction of trade deficit by 25 percent and current account deficit by 47 percent in the month of January. He said the recovery in electricity bills were improved by 2.5 percent. He said 18000 FIRs have been registered and about fifteen hundred arrests were made in electricity theft cases.
He further said that an increase of 34 percent in tax filling has also been witnessed this year which is the highest number in last twenty years. He said we are taking steps to increase tax base and avoiding indirect taxes.
Hammad Azhar said food inflation will likely be receded in coming days. He said financial assistance from our friendly countries also helped Pakistan to overcome economic crises.