ISLAMABAD: During a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs, comments by Sardar Mohammad Yousaf triggered a discussion on whether the government gives more importance to treasury bills than private member bills.

There were four bills on the meeting’s agenda, which was held at the ministry on Thursday, of which three involved the establishment of commissions for the protection of religious minorities and their rights.

Mr Yousaf said a comprehensive bill has been drafted for the government and if necessary, some portions from private member bills can be incorporated into the treasury bill.

“We are waiting for one province to pass the resolution regarding the bill, after which it will be passed by parliament and enforced across the country,” he said.

Since the passage of the 18th Amendment, parliament may only make legislation that is enforced in federal territory, but if a province passes a resolution on a bill, it can be enforced across the country once passed by parliament.

However, Lal Chand Malhi, the mover of The National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2015, reacted strongly to the statements.

Mr Malhi, who is from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, said: “The government has nothing to do with my bill. I have taken input from civil society and other stakeholders before preparing the bill. I also submitted my bill two years ago, and since then I have been hearing that the government has decided to bring its bill so my bill should be dropped.

“There is a lot of difference between the two bills. The government bill is about interfaith harmony, and my bill is about minorities’ rights. The committee should discuss my bill, and after that it can either pass it or reject it,” he said.

A representative of the religious affairs ministry said the treasury bill included the phrase ‘interfaith harmony’ because it was decided that the term ‘interfaith’ would be used instead of ‘minorities’.

He said the ministry will support the government bill, but the committee could discuss the private member bill.

However, Mr Malhi said that he travels around 1,500km to attend a meeting just to hear that the bill cannot be discussed, or will be discussed at the next meeting.

“It is my right to table a private member’s bill, and as the parliament has sent it to the committee the committee should discuss the bill, otherwise I should be told to go home,” he said.

PML-N’s Syed Imran Ahmad Shah also said the bill should be discussed by the committee.

The chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Siddiqueul Farooq said the bills should be discussed, and suggestions can be incorporated into the government bill.

Committee chairman Hafiz Abdul Kareem, who is from the PML-N, assured that all three bills will be discussed at the next meeting, on March 6.

Delayed meetings

At the start of the committee meeting, Jamaat-i-Islami’s Sahibzada Mohammad Yaqub said standing committee meetings were held after very long intervals.

“Other committees have held around 40 meetings during the current tenure, but the religious affairs committee has only held 20 meetings, due to which we are not only lagging behind but most of the relevant issues cannot be discussed,” he said, and suggested that meetings be held more frequently.

Published in Dawn February 17th, 2017