ISLAMABAD - The national assembly with majority of votes passed ‘the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) bill, 2020’ on Wednesday, which prohibits provision of loans or financial assistance to those associated with banned organizations.
The bill, presented by Minister for law Farogh Naseem, restricts all the banks and financial institutions from issuing credit cards to persons barred. “No new licenses will be issued to the persons barred under the bill and they will be penalised for carrying weapons,” one of the clauses of the bill says.
According to the approved amended clauses of the bill the armed licenses already issued to such persons would be revoked and said weapons would be sealed.
According to the amendment related to the ‘Violation of UN security Council Resolution, “A person is guilty of an offence , in any way whatsoever , refuses or fails to comply with the orders of the federal government shall be liable to conviction to imprisonment for a term exceeding ten years or with fine not exceeding Rs25m or with both”.
Minister for law Faroogh Naseem, speaking on the clauses of the bill, said that the bill was passed after completely satisfying the opposition factions. “It was good that the government and the opposition main parties with consensus passed the bill,” he said, mentioning that there was no difference of opinion between the government and the opposition on human rights issue. “There is no relation between terrorism and Islam. We are on the main spirit of the bill,” he said.
The main opposition parties Pakistan Peoples Party [PPP-P] and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz [PML-N] after meeting with senior PTI’s lawmakers did not object to the bill. “We are withdrawing our amendment as the government has included our amendments,” said PML-N’s Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha. Whereas, Balochistan National Party (Mengal) opposed the clauses of the bill.
BNP-Megal chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, on his turn, asked the government to clarify the exact definition of terrorism. “What exactly terrorism is?.,”Mengal posed a question, mentioning that they would not support both the opposition and the government benches in this bill. “Does lodging an FIR against someone make them a terrorist? Someone who breaks a mirror may be declared a terrorist but the one breaking the Constitution of Pakistan is not,” he commented. The House has also adopted ‘the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill,’ ‘The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020’, ‘The Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020’ and ‘Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020’.
Resolution passed to write “Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Allah Khatam-Un-Nabiyyin Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam’’
The House unanimously passed a resolution today urging the government that the name of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SAWW) should be written as“Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Allah Khatam-un-Nabiyyin Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam” in all official and unofficial documents.
The resolution was moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan.
The House also passed a resolution recommending that the speech of founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam to the Constituent Assembly on the 11th August 1947 regarding minorities should also be made a part of the syllabus.
Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi, responding to a call-attention notice, said that fishermen would be made part of ‘Kamyab Jawan Program’ for their capacity building. He said the fishermen could also take benefit from the recently announced shipping policy.
PML-N’s parliamentary leader Khwaja Muhammad Asif, on point of order, said that FIR had also been launched against PAC chairman Rana Tanvir Hussain. “Rana Tanvir Hussain was in the national assembly to attend the proceedings but his name was mentioned in the FIR,” he said, mentioning that he would move a privilege motion on this matter.
PTI’s senior lawmaker Shah Mehmood Qureshi ensured to probe the matter. “Action needs to be taken, if the name of Rana Tanvir was included without any logic,” he said. About the FATF related bill, Qureshi said, “Terror financing and money laundering are the menace that Pakistan has to confront and eradicate.