ISLAMABAD, Aug 20: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has submitted an adjournment motion to the National Assembly secretariat seeking debate on the recent cancellation of the declarations of weekly Friday Special, and daily Islam and Wajood.

The adjournment motion says: “The government of Pakistan has cancelled the declaration of such newspapers/periodicals which were well known for promotion of true Islamic teachings and were popular among Islam-loving people for inculcating Islamic spirit, ideology of Pakistan and love and fraternity with their homeland.”

It said the government on one hand was promoting obscenity and vulgarity in the name of culture to advance its secular agenda, while on the other it was trying to suppress the Islam- loving institutions and individuals through slapping unjustified and unreasonable curbs.

It further said: “A conspiracy to expel Islam as religion from the national life was set in motion and the nation was put on the path to poverty and deprivation to please foreign masters.”

The government’s recent step of cancelling the declaration of Islam-loving and patriot newspapers and journals was a continuation of this “conspiracy” and a flagrant violation of independence of the press, constitution of Pakistan and moral values, it added.

This step of the government, the motion said, had caused serious concern among the people of the country and thus this required to be debated by suspending the normal business of the house.

The motion has been signed by MNAs Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Liaquat Baloch, Asadullah Bhutto, Samia Raheel Qazi, Dr Fareeda Ahmed, Maulana Abdul Malik, Qari Gul Rahman, Shabbir Ahmed Khan, Dr Fareed Ahmed Paracha, Usman advocate and Mian Mohammad Aslam.