KARACHI: Marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Sindh Assembly on Friday condemned physical and mental torture against women and vowed to frame all possible laws to provide basic rights to women.

The pledge was part of a resolution tabled by Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmakers Ghazala Sial and Naheed Begum, respectively.

The resolution asked the government to take all-out measures to end violence against women and called upon the assembly to commit to provide equal political and social status to women across Sindh. After a few speeches, the resolution was carried unanimously when put to the house.

Earlier, women lawmakers said they were proud of the Sindh Assembly for making a number of legislation against domestic violence, harassment, protection of rights and redressing their grievances allowing women to feel secure at home and in the workplace.

Ms Sial said on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, she would like to praise the Sindh Assembly in general and the PPP in particular for framing important legislation for the protection of women rights.

MQM lawmaker Naheed Begum said the constitution assured equal rights to all citizens. “We are proud of the Sindh Assembly that has made many laws to protect women from violence and secure their honour,” she said while referring to the law against harassment in the workplace.

PML-F lawmaker Mehtab Akbar Rashdi said the real issue was not of legislation but of law enforcement that called for due attention of the government.

PPP minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said the assembly had made laws catering to all sections of society including women who were 52 per cent of the population. Just a day ago, he said, the provincial assembly had taken lead in the country by making the law against forced conversion.

After the adoption of the resolution, Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza adjourned the house at 1.35pm till Monday at 10am.

Before taking up the resolution on a motion tabled by Mr Khuhro for relaxing rules, the house elected Ejaz Hussain Shah Bokhari as a member of the Public Accounts Committee.

The minister also introduced the government bill – The Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto University of Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and deferred its consideration till Monday. By the amendment, a provision was made for minister, adviser or special assistant of a department to be the pro- chancellor of the SZAB University of Law, Karachi.

The adjournment motion of PTI lawmaker Khuram Sherzaman about recruitment in Sindh government departments, which was part of the order of the day, was opposed by Mr Khuhro. After hearing the mover on its admissibility, the chair termed it not maintainable and ruled it out of order on technical ground.

Earlier, when the chair gave floor to MQM lawmaker Heer Soho to take up her call attention notice, leader of opposition Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hassan drew attention of the house towards the reports that government had decided to pay Rs10,000 per month to the UC chairman and Rs8,000 to vice chairman. He said this move before the constitution of the provincial finance commission was beyond comprehension. While the minimum monthly salary of a worker was fixed at Rs14,000, the approval of Rs10,000 monthly salary for a UC chairman was unjustified, he added.

Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro said Rs10,000 was not a salary but honorarium just like assembly members who were not paid salaries but honorarium. Their position being elected members was to serve the people which could not be equated with the salary of an employee, he said.

In response to the call attention notice of PML-F lawmaker Nusrat Sehar Abbasi about the protests in Thar against the location of proposed Thar Dam that the residents said would engulf their agricultural land, Mr Khuhro said the issue was basically related to the irrigation department, but he would like to clarify that the 1,500 acre land mentioned by Ms Abbasi would be used for the water reservoir to generate electricity which would not only be enough for the Sindh province but also cater to the need of the entire country. He explained that 1,000 acres of the said land was owned by the government while the remaining 500 acres were owned by the people most of whom realized the national interest and had no objection to the project. The affected people had been paid compensation and alternative piece of land, he added.

Health Minister Sikandar Mandhro said the location of the dam was a compulsion as there was no other piece of land in the sandy area where a reservoir could be built. He said Thar coal power project had vital importance for the future of Sindh. He added that the government was ready to build a model village with hospital and other basic amenities for the affected people.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2016