KP Assembly condemns attack on journalist’s wife

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday condemned the attack on the wife of investigative journalist Ahmad Noorani in Lahore and demanded an inquiry into the incident.

Nighat Orakzai of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) raised the issue on a point of order.

She said the attack on Noorani’s wife Ambareen Fatima, who was also a journalist, and her family members was an act of cowardice and deserved condemnation.

The lawmaker said it was an attack on the freedom of the press.

Minister for Labour and Parliamentary Affairs Shaukat Yousafzai also expressed concern over the incident and said the journalists should be provided with the opportunity to work freely.

Demanding investigation into the incident, he termed it an attempt to stifle the press freedom. Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani also condemned the attack on behalf of the entire House.

The House unanimously adopted a resolution by Ikhtiar Wali Khan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) on the inclusion of Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (SAW) column in the nikahnama.

The resolution said this august House recommend to the government that as per Muslim Family Laws Ordinance Para No 8 and 10 a column should be inserted in nikahnama to differentiate between a Muslim and a non-Muslim like Ahmadis/ Qadianis).

There should be an affidavit column for Muslims with the wording ‘being a Muslim I believe that Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the last prophet of Allah and there is no prophet after him. I don’t recognise Qadianis/ Ahmadis or Mirzai as Muslims.’

The bill for the regularisation of about 40,000 employees from erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) was deferred for a second time and was sent to the select committee due to the treasury and opposition differences over the legislation.

The House also witnessed protest from the opposition over delay in recruitment of police constables in Upper Dir. Sahibzada Sanaullah of PPP and Inayatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami in their joint call attention notice drew the attention of the House towards the matter, saying about 152 candidates from Upper Dir had qualified for the ETEA test for recruitment as police constables but they were not recruited despite the fact 37 vacancies were lying vacant.

They said the waiting list would expire on December 31 if the recruitment was not finalized. In his reply, Shaukat Yousafzai assured the House that the ones, who had qualified the test, would be adjusted against the vacant posts by the end of December.

About the complaint of lawmaker Hafiz Hassamuddin that people from Charsadda were recruited as against Class-IV positions in South Waziristan, Speaker Mushtaq Ghani said he had already given ruling that only locals could be recruited against Class-IV seats and action would be taken against the officers, who violated the order.

The House unanimously adopted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Nordics Substances (amendment) Bill, 2021 and the KP Officers Law Experts Appointment (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

While the Upper Swat Development Authority Bill, 2021 and the KP Deserving Artistes Welfare Endowment Fund Bill, 2021 were introduced in the House before the sitting was adjourned until December 20.