Daily Times

The incident of a Hindu temple’s desecration echoed in Punjab Assembly on Friday’s session as the opposition demanded stern action against the culprits and miscreants.

Speaking on a point of order, former minister for human rights Khalil Tahir Sandhu of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said that it is highly condemnable that a temple was desecrated in Rahim Yar Khan. “The Hindu community living in Pakistan always stands with this country,” said Sandhu, who represents the minorities.

He was of the view that if anyone has committed a crime then he should be punished, but it is completely wrong to attack the places of worship. He further added that the Supreme Court has taken notice of this incident and the ones responsible will be punished.

Earlier, the session of the Punjab Assembly started after the delay of one hour from its scheduled time, with the panel of Chairman Nawab Waseem Badozai in the chair. The session was once again marred with very low attendance as there were only three members present in the House when it started. The questions related to the forestry, wildlife and fisheries department were there on the agenda item in question-hour. PML-N’s Sandhu highlighted that the concerned Secretary of the department is not present in violation of the rulings of both the speaker and deputy speaker. “The MPAs submit their questions after working very hard but the secretaries do not even bother to attend the session. It is not the right approach and stern action should be taken against the secretary for violating the ruling of the speaker,” added the PML-N lawmaker. The panel of the chairman directed to ring the bells for five minutes first and later for 15 minutes to call the MPAs to come to the House, but all in vain. There were only 31 MPAs present at the time of attendance. It is worth mentioning here that 93 members are required to fulfill the quorum, which the government once again failed to meet. The government business was also not taken up due to the collapse of the quorum. The session was adjourned to meet again on Monday at 1pm.