ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said Sherry Rehman had agreed to withdraw her bill to amend the blasphemy law according to the party policy.
Talking to a group of parliamentarians, who called on him separately at his Parliament House Chamber on Wednesday, the prime minister categorically made it clear that government has no intention to amend the law.
“Neither I nor the speaker National Assembly has constituted any Committee to consider the amendment bill,” he added. He asked the religious parties to help the government in formulating policies to check the misuse of blasphemy law against the citizens.
Referring to the American national involved in killing of three civilians in Lahore, the prime minister said the matter is sub judice, we should not discuss it till the court decides. The prime minister said Pakistan is a sovereign state. We have sovereign parliament, independent judiciary, independent media and vibrant civil society.
He said we believe in rule of law and will respect the decisions of the courts in letter and spirit. The prime minister asked the parliamentarians to focus their debate on the national issues. Referring to the Peshawar blast, the prime minister while condemning it lauded that innocent citizens were sacrificing their lives for the safe future of our next generations. He reiterated the resolve of the government to root out extremism at all costs.
The prime minister said the government is focusing on rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood ravaged areas despite financial constraints. He maintained that completion of ongoing projects will help generate economic activity and improve employment opportunities.
The parliamentarians thanked the prime minister for disbursing the development budget irrespective of party affiliations.They apprised the prime minister of various development schemes in their respective constituencies.
Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Shah, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Haji Munir Khan Orakzai, Ch Iftikhar Nazir, Khadeeja Waran, Lt Gen (retd) Qadir Baloch, Ayaz Amir, Malik Nawab Sher Waseer, Rubina Qaimkhani, Haider Abbas Rizvi, Omer Sohail and Shehnaz Sheikh called on the prime minister.
Meanwhile, talking to The News about the prime minister’s statement that she had withdrawn the bill to amend the blasphemy law, former minister for information Sherry Rehman said she held the prime minister in high esteem and also could not go against the party line.
She said the bill was never placed on the agenda of the National Assembly, therefore as such it had never been moved. Moreover, she said as a true Muslim she believed “in the greatness of our holy Prophet (PBUH) and what I wanted was that innocent people be given a chance to prove their innocence like in all laws, and that cases be tried by the higher courts, that penalties be given according to the Quran, and that no one who makes false charges in the name of blasphemy goes unpunished”. “The bill if at all it had been moved was against injustices done via procedures introduced by Ziaul Haq,” she said.
Source: The News
Date:2/3/2011
