Daily Times

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Friday once again emphasised on filing a lawsuit against India in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The committee, which met in Parliament House, observed the 117th day of curfew in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) as a ‘black day’ and strongly condemned the ongoing atrocities against oppressed Kashmiris by Indian armed forced. Senator Abdul Rehman Malik chaired the meeting.

The committee was of the view that a law suit against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his appliances as war criminals under the Rome Convention and recommended to the government to take the matter up in the cabinet meeting. He asked the minister for parliamentary affairs to personally pursue to include the agenda point regarding filing of a lawsuit against Narendra Modi in the next cabinet meeting. He said that he was astonished to see how Pakistani government failed to pressurise the Indian prime minister to uplift the 117-day-long curfew. Regarding the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019, introduced by Senator Mian Muhammad Ateeq Sheikh, the committee discussed the modalities of presenting annual reports of NACTA in the Parliament. Due to diverse opinions on the matter committee chairman Senator A Rehman Malik directed the ministries of Interior and Law to submit their response in the next meeting. While discussing the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Ordinance No. VI) introduced by Senator Muhammad Azam Swati on behalf of Minister for Interior Ijaz Ahmed Shah, there was detail discussion on whether a person who is in the country and a person who is abroad can be given two different punishments for the same crime committed beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the country. The committee was of the view that there should be no discrimination in the law as law must treat all equally. The government and opposition should discuss all the modalities of the law with every angle to create consensus over the proposed legislation. He said that while formulating any law the national interest should be given priority as Pakistan is passing through difficult phase and we need national unity and collective wisdom to cope up with these challenges. The committee chairman constituted a sub-committee under the convenership of Senator Dr Shehzad Waseem with Senators Shafiq Tareen and Kalsoom Parveen as members to further deliberate on the bill and report back to the committee. The committee also considered the Islamabad Pure Food Authority Bill, 2019introduced by Senator Sajjad Hussain Turi in the House on 02-09-2019. Senator A Rehman Malik appreciated the mover of the bill, Senator Sajjad Hussain Turi, adding that access to pure food is the basic right of every citizen which government has to ensure. He directed ministries of Interior and Law and mover Sajjad Hussain Turi to discuss and report back to the committee.

Regarding construction of access road, underpasses or flyovers by CDA sectors I-14, I-16 and I-17 to Kashmir Highway, Senator Rehman Malik said that he had been receiving a lot of complaints by the residents as they were confronting lot of problems while reaching their homes. He directed that the locality should be connected with Kashmir Highway through road, underpasses and flyovers. The Islamabad chief commissioner told the committee that proposal of construction of road connecting the sectors to Kashmir Highway had been approved and the work would start soon.

Regarding issuance of NOC by CDA for construction of 3200 PHA units for government employees in BPS 1-16 in sector I-12, Rehman Malik asked FIA to work out particulars of the criminal negligence of officers of CDA and PHA involved. The FIA was also directed to present report on award of a contract to a private company for development of sector E-11 and ongoing inquiries against private housing societies.

The committee chairman also took serious notice of the hate campaign and derogatory remarks against dignitaries, including the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), political leadership and common people. He directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to submit a detailed report to the committee on social media hate campaign against dignitaries from different walks of life aiming at their character assassination. The meeting was attended by Senator Kulsoom Parveen, Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi, Senator Mian Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh, Senator Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen, Senator Momin Khan Afridi and Senator Dr Shahzad Waseem. The meeting also attended by Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Senator Mohammad Azam Khan Swati, Chairman CDA, Mayor MCI, and other officials from Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Law and Justice and other government departments.