ISLAMABAD: A ruling party minority MNA, Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, has written a letter to the chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs, Asad Mehmood, registering his protest over rejection of his private member’s bill regarding the composition of the Evacuee Trust Property Board by the committee in his absence.

In his letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, Dr Vankwani of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) challenged the committee’s decision, terming it a violation of the parliamentary norms and calling for inclusion of the bill in the agenda for the next meeting.

Dr Vankwani said he came to know through media that the Evacuee Trust Properties (Management and Disposal) Bill, 2018, moved by him had been disposed of by the committee in its meeting held on Sept 27.

The committee disposed of the bill, declaring it contrary to Articles 25 and 27 of the Constitution.

Ramesh raises matter with chairman of religious affairs committee

“I would like to emphasise that my bill was not a violation of Articles 25 and 27, but rejection of the bill without presence of the mover is a violation of parliamentary norms,” wrote Dr Vankwani, a vocal minority MNA from Sindh, in his letter to Mr Mehmood, who is the son of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

He said the meeting was earlier scheduled to be held on Sept 16 for which he had especially ensured his presence in Islamabad. However, he said, it was postponed and later he didn’t receive any intimation for re-scheduling of the meeting.

“It is, therefore, very regrettable that my bill was rejected in my absence and I was not allowed to present my stance,” the minority MNA said in his letter while requesting the committee chairman that his bill be included in the agenda of next meeting so that he could present his point of view about its importance and significance.

Talking to Dawn, Dr Vankwani said this bill was very important for the Hindu community because there was much violation of basic rights of minorities.

“My struggle is to ensure that this significant national institution must be headed by a qualified Hindu notable and the board must consists of only Hindu and Sikh members due to the fact that the properties, which include 1,130 Hindu temples and 517 Gurdwaras and agricultural land, belong to the Hindu community,” he explained.

The bill, he said, was not a violation of Articles 25 and 27 of the Constitution, stating that Pakistan’s first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan in an accord with his Indian counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru had agreed to appoint a Pakistani Hindu citizen for looking after evacuee properties.

“We must rectify our past mistakes for the betterment of society,” he said, adding: “In India, a Muslim minister is always responsible for heading evacuee issues related to the Indian Muslim minority community.”

During the last meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, the members had observed that the 18th Amendment denied certain national level rights to religious minorities as this subject was devolved to the provinces.

The meeting had discussed establishment of the National Commission for Religious Minorities. Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri had told the committee members that even if the commission was established it would be limited to the jurisdiction of Islamabad as the subject of minorities had been devolved to the provinces under the 18th Amendment.

The committee was scheduled to take up draft bills to stop forced conversions — “The Prohibition of Forced Religious Conversion Bill 20l9” moved by Naveed Amir Jeeva, and the “The Protection of Persons Against Forced Religious Conversion Bill” moved by Dr Vankwani.

The committee referred these bills to the Council of Islamic Ideology for its expert opinion.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2019