- Treasury, opposition demand strict monitoring system, exemplary punishment to responsible; Baligh says Pakistan to upgrade entry gates at Torkham, Chaman, to construct four more border entries
Senators from the treasury and the opposition benches expressed their concerns over blasphemous posts on social media and demanded strong action against responsible persons and firms and their facilitators.
The House unanimously passed a resolution moved by Senator Kamil Ali Agha. The resolution reads that Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and those who were defiling the name of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were trying to create a crisis in Pakistan. It demands from the government to put in place a strict monitoring system and those responsible should be handed out exemplary punishments.
Addressing at the occasion, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan said that the whole nations awaits guidance of the Senate in this regard. “We can’t be held to ransom by those who commit such heinous deeds. Taking out rallies and blocking websites is not a solution,” he said, and demanded that a monitoring group be established that lays out the procedure about monitoring the websites.
Senator Mishal Hashmi said that a so-called liberal section of the society was supporting such acts. Senator Rehman Malik termed the anti-Islamic posts on social media as a conspiracy against Pakistan. Senator Kamil Ali Agha told the House that the blasphemous campaign on social media was carried out with a well-planned strategy. “If a strict action is delayed any further, the damage to the country will be irreparable,” he pointed out.
State Minister for Interior and Narcotics Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman told the House that the Punjab government has appealed against the decision of a trial court which acquitted 115 accused who were charged of setting 125 homes of Christians on fire back in March 2013 in Lahore. The accused were acquitted in January this year. He told the House that the provincial government would be counsel from the Christian community’s side.
Baligh also informed the Senate that a proposal to construct four more entry gates along the border with Afghanistan was under consideration to effectively monitor the cross border movement of the people. He said that these gates would be erected at South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Kurram Agency and Mohmand Agency. He said that two entry gates at Torkham and Chaman were already operational and would be upgraded by 2020.
About implementation of the National Action Plan, he said that instruments were in place to check the terrorist financing and in this regard accounts of several thousand suspicious have also been blocked. Since the launch of NAP, 1865 terrorists have been killed and 5611 arrested, he said. He also said that 414 terrorists have also been executed under anti-terrorism act. He said that steps have also been taken towards dismantling the network of terrorists. He told the House that a policy was in place to monitor the operations of international NGOs.
Answering a Calling Attention Notice about two children who suffered from platelet functional disorder and contracted AIDS during blood transition, State Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Tariq Fazal Chaudhary replied that the Blood Transfusion Authority was activated in 2013. “We closed six blood banks due to bad performance. We don’t know yet from where the kids got the contaminated blood,” he said. The opposition walked out on unsatisfactory reply on substandard blood kits.
The Senate also unanimously passed ‘The Senate Secretariat Services Bill, 2017,’ where the rules and regulations pertaining to service of employees of the Senate have been consolidated. The House was adjourned till 3pm on Monday (March 13).
