ISLAMABAD, May 11: The subcommittee of the Senate standing committee on religious affairs, Zakat and Ushr has underlined the need for ensuring the sanctity of the Holy Quran and called upon the government to bring a comprehensive piece of legislation for disposing of Shaheed/damaged copies of the Holy Quran.

According to a press release, the subcommittee met in the Parliament House on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Senator Syed Hidayatullah Shah and discussed a Private Member‘s Bill further to amend the publication of “The Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing Error) (Amendment) Bill, 2004”, introduced by Senator Dr Kauser Firdaus on February 7.

The mover of the bill, Senator Dr Kauser, highlighting the aims and objectives of the bill, said the bill had been introduced with a view to maintain the sanctity of the Holy Quran and ensure proper disposal of Shaheed/damaged papers and copies.

The members of the subcommittee were of the view that there were no two views on the need to ensure sanctity of the Holy Quran and that a mechanism needed to be devised to ensure proper disposal of shaheed/damaged papers and copies of the Holy Quran.

The committee was told that appropriate arrangements are being followed for the disposal and preservation of old copies of Quran and sacred papers, which contains verses of the Holy Quran and sayings of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him). It was told that, for this purpose, public opinion is mobilized through print media, newspapers and journals regularly make appeal to the readers to ensure sanctity of the scared papers.

The subcommittee unanimously called upon the government to come up with a comprehensive bill on the subject incorporating the salient features of the proposed bill.

The meeting was attended by Senators Syed Hidayatullah Shah, Hafiz Abdul Malik Qadri, Abdul Latif Ansari and Dr Kauser Firdaus, MNA Asadullah Bhutto and ministry officials.