The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) introduced the 20th Constitution Amendment Bill of 2012 in the National Assembly on Tuesday seeking the creation of new provinces in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which was referred to the standing committee concerned as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) did not oppose the legislation.
MQM MNA Wasim Akhtar introduced the bill, which proposes amendments to Articles 1, 51, 106, and 239 of the constitution. The MQM demanded the creation of a Hazara province in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and formation of one or more provinces in Punjab after holding a referendum in the province.
The PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) MNAs from Hazara and South Punjab, Farzana Mushtaq, Jamshad Dasti and Shah Jahan Yusuf, thanked the MQM leadership for introducing the bill and urged the committee to take up the bill as soon as possible.
In the statement of objects and reason of the bill, it was stated that the overgrowth of population, increased demand for delivery of social services and the inaccessibility of the chief executive, his cabinet members, the bureaucracy and the law enforcement agencies were factors that had rendered the dispensation of justice to the people of remote areas almost impossible. Besides administrative inconvenience, the cultural and social diversity within the ideological unity also necessitated greater harmony, hence the need for more provinces.
MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi told reporters outside Parliament House that it was his party that devolved power from the Centre to the provinces, but the provinces started considering themselves the centre of power.
Earlier, PPP MNA Nafisa Shah introduced The Political Parties Order (Amendment) Bill of 2012 (Amendment in sections 11, 12 and insertion of new Section 8A). Nafisa said the bill was an effort of the Women Parliamentary Caucus and according to this bill, the political parties would have to give 10 percent quota of party tickets to women for general seats, while 33 percent representation would also have to be given to women party members in the party’s elected general council and any associated party committee and forums at the federal, provincial and local levels of the party. Nafisa, MNA Bushra Gohar, Tasneem Siddiqui, Dr Attiya Anayatullah and Asiya Nasir were the movers of the bill.
MNA Khurram Jahangir Wattoo introduced a bill to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (The Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill of 2012 – Amendment to Section 53). The bill excluded women and children under 15 years of age from the death sentence. He introduced another bill to amend the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Ordinance of 2000 (The NADRA (Amendment) Bill of 2012 – Amendment to Section 10). The bill said NADRA should issue Computerised National Identity Cards for the lifetime of citizens.
MNA Azra Fazal Pechuho introduced a bill to amend the NADRA Ordinance of 2000 further, which sought to introduce changes to Sections 2 and 9 of the ordinance. Azra said the bill provided the facility of registration for those who had no parentage.
MQM MP Sufyan Yusuf introduced another bill to amend the Pakistan Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898 (The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill of 2012 – Insertions of 297A, 297B). According to 297A, whoever without due permission from competent authorities exhumes a human corpse or any part of a human corpse shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years and also be liable to a fine, while according to 297B, whoever exhumes a human corpse or any part of the corpse with intent to cook, eat or to sell or to use for magic any organ or cooked any part of the human corpse or eaten or sold any organ or cooked any part of the human corpse shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than 10 years and shall also be liable to a fine.
The government did not oppose any of the bills and all were sent to the committees concerned.
Speaking on the occasion, PPP Chief Whip Khursheed Shah said a number of bills had already been sent to committees and they were not working them out.
Speaking on a point of order, MNA Jamshad Dasti accused Housing and Works Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat of taking hefty bribes through the Pak-PWD officials. He said a committee should be formed to investigate the matter. He added that he would present proof to the committee. PPP MNA Noor Alam Khan pointed out that after various requisitions, the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was not being called, which was disappointing since it was the only platform for the accountability of ministries. He said the a new chairman for the committee should be appointed immediately.
Another PPP MNA, Abdul Qadir Patel, told the House that Iranian border forces had targeted 15 Pakistani fishermen when they were fishing in the maritime borders of Balochistan. He said Iranian forces claimed the fishermen had committed border intrusion, and had killed four out of the 15 when they shot at them. He said now the government of Iran was demanding a huge sum for the return of the dead bodies and injured fisherman under the head of treatment and other expenses. He urged the government to announce compensation for the fishermen.
Earlier, responding to a calling-attention notice regarding the issuance of machine readable passport to its citizens for a period of five years instead of 10 years, creating problems for Pakistanis abroad, Parliamentary Interior Secretary Rae Mujtaba Kharal assured the National Assembly that the government would prepare PC-1 to issue the passports for 10 years with the option of five years also available. MNA Yasmeen Rehman, Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur and others had moved the calling-attention notice.
