ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony will take up three different bills on Monday which seek the formation of an independent national commission for the protection of minorities’ rights.

The committee headed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s Shagufta Jumani will take up three private bills moved by PPP MNA Belum Hasnain, Sanjay Perwani of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MNA Lal Chand Malhi.

The bills have been pending before the committee for the past three years and could not be approved by the National Assembly due to opposition by the government along with a lack of interest by the assembly’s members.

Opposition by the government and a lack of interest by MNAs have delayed legislation for three years

The movers of the bills want to have an independent commission like the National Comm­ission on Human Rights (NCHR) but the government wants to see the commission functioning under its control.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, Mr Malhi and Mr Perwani expressed their concern over the “unnecessary delay” in the passage of their bills by the committee. They said they were apprehensive that the bills might not pass as the current government’s five-year term would be over in about two months.

Mr Malhi regretted that the members of the committee did not pay attention to the bills and spent most of their time discussing issues related to Haj and Umrah tour operators.

Mr Malhi said that government representatives had told them they were already facing difficulties due to the independent nature of the NCHR and therefore, they did not want another commission.

According to the PTI MNA, a commission for minorities set up through an executive order was already functioning under the federal minister for religious affairs but it had failed to deliver.

He claimed that a few times the main committee had set up sub-committees on the issue but they could not proceed due to the government’s opposition.

The MQM’s MNA said that he had spoken to the committee’s chairperson a few days ago and had asked her to expedite the passage of the bills.

The MNAs have suggested that the Pakistan Minorities Rights Commission (PMRC) should be formed to exercise powers conferred on it and to perform the function assigned to it under the act. They also suggested that the chairperson of the proposed commission should be from the minorities.

The commission’s main functions would include examining policy, programmes and other measures taken by the government on issues relating to equality of minorities, empowerment, protection, political participation, representation and education and make suitable recommendations to the concerned authorities.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2018