Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani parliamentarians on Wednesday demanded that the international community play its role in stopping human rights violations by the Bangladeshi government regarding the hanging of senior JI leaders over showing sympathy for Pakistan during the 1971 war in the wake of several executions for alleged crimes committed during the country’s independence war.

The National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution strongly condemning the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in Bangladesh. The resolution was presented by JI MNA Sher Akbar Khan. Condemning the execution of JI leaders, the resolution said the executions were contrary to the tripartite agreement signed by Pakistan, India and Bangladesh in 1974. The resolution also stressed upon the Bangladeshi government to stop the execution of people who showed sympathy with Pakistan during the 1971 war. It also demanded the government to seriously raise at all the international forums the issue of political imprisonment in Bangladesh.

The opposition parties staged a walkout against the Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 with a view that there was no need to run the government through ordinances. Both the houses were in session and running the government ordinances were totally against the spirit of democracy. Such type of exercises were carried out when there was an emergency in a particular matter, while in the current situation there was no such situation. PPP leader Syed Naved Qamar said if the government ran financial matters through ordinances then what was the need for a budget making process?

Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said promulgation of ordinances was not good tradition and bypassing parliament in legislative matters was very bad for a flourishing democracy. In the 18th Amendment, all parties agreed to discourage promulgation of ordinances. After some debate by opposition parties, they announced a walk out against the Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2016.

Earlier, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan laid before the House the Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2016. He pledged that no new tax could be imposed other than in the budget. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad told the House that the Prime Minister recently approved a package to revive Pakistan Post.

The house was also informed that efforts have been accelerated to enhance domestic exploration of oil and gas. Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the House during question hour that despite a decrease in the prices of petroleum products at the international level, Pakistan was expected to receive investment in the oil and gas sector which would help exploit the indigenous resources of the country. He said the local production of crude oil had surged to 100,000 barrels per day which met 15 percent of the country’s requirements. He said the country had received an investment of Rs1.6 trillion in oil and gas exploration, and that exploration activities had been expedited, especially in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which had led to some important discoveries.

He said the government was encouraging investors to establish new refineries in the country. The establishment of refineries in Balochistan and Karachi would help reduce the import bill of refined products. The Minister said there was no ban on domestic gas connections and the problem of gas shortages had been overcome to a great deal and today, consumers were being provided gas on a full time basis.

Minister for Law Zahid Hamid told the House that an anti-rape bill has been prepared which would be put before the joint sitting of the Parliament for approval. He said that the government was implementing the action plan on human rights. Under this plan, an endowment fund for legal aid to poor victims of human rights violations was being established at a cost of Rs 100 million.