The Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday condemned the lynching of a man on the charge of blasphemy in Swat and said that Parliament should take notice of “mob justice” which had brought Pakistan to the brink of destruction.
A man was killed by a mob over alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in Swat’s Madyan area.
Iqbal, who spoke during the budget debate in the National Assembly, lamented that yet another mob lynching incident had taken place in the country. He said similar incidents had happened in Sialkot, Jaranwala and Sargodha and it was alarming that the trend was not being controlled.
He also spoke about an attempt on his life in 2018, saying even now the bullet is in his body.
“We must take notice of this incident as our nation is on the brink. We have now reached a point where we are using religion to justify mob violence and street
justice, flagrantly violating the Constitution, the law and the state,” he bemoaned.
He also demanded constitution of a committee to probe these incidents. He also urged religious scholars to play their role in stemming the tide of extremism.
The deputy speaker asked Ahsan Iqbal to consult Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi for formation of a committee.
“What are we showing the world with this?” he asked as the deputy speaker tried to cut him off. Despite the interruptions he continued, saying: “We need to think about where we stand in the world […] we are a backwards country. If we do not take notice of this, we will fall into anarchy.” Taking part in budget debate, PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi demanded that the independent power producers have earned billions of rupees, now close them to save billions.
He said that the money is not being recovered from the IPPs and salaried class is being overburdened.
“Shutdown these IPPs they have already minted billions of rupees,” he said.
“We have to save the country, not the IPPs. The IPPs have earned billions of rupees even during the economic emergency,” Hanif Abbasi said during budget debate.
MQM-P’s Mustafa Kamal said that the country has been indebted by those who run the country, while it is public that have to give sacrifice in hard time.
He said 78,000 billion being demanded from the public, “Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and the PTI’s founder should lead the way,” he said. “Nawaz Sharif should donate his Raiwind Palace, Asif Zardari one of his Bilawal Houses and the PTI’s founder his Bani Galla,” he said.
He said 71 percent capacity charges are being paid in the power sector. ”1,700 billions have been allocated for the power companies, which are even not generating the electricity,” Mustafa Kamal said.
He demanded the government to revisit the agreement with the power companies.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly on Saturday once again witnessed a ruckus as lawmakers belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-N protested against a Sunni Ittehad Council member for ‘using’ inappropriate language against the women, a news channel reported.
Taking part in the budget discussion, PTI-backed Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel, who later joined the SIC along with other MNAs, allegedly used inappropriate language against the lady lawmakers belonging to the PML-N.
Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa, who was chairing the session, turned off Sanaullah Masti Khel’s microphone but his remarks already caused an uproar in the National Assembly. Later, the PML-N lady lawmakers reached the Speaker’s chamber and demanded Sanaullah Masti Khel’s suspension.
The PML-N’s members also chanted slogans against the SIC lawmaker. The sources said the National Assembly Secretariat decided to suspend Sanaullah Masti Khel for a few days and a notification in this regard would be issued.
