LAHORE, Aug 8: Following the removal of hurdles in the way of Bab-i-Pakistan project, the provincial government is now considering to revamp its national memorial council and executive committee.
The project was conceived by former chief minister the late Ghulam Haider Wyne, and at least 12 of the 33 members of the memorial council have died since.
In a proposal made by the government, names of the non-official members of the executive committee, Mukhtar Masood, Justice Javed Iqbal (retired) and Majid Nizami, have been dropped.
The proposed committee has no non-official members. It includes the chief minister as chairman and his special assistant, Col Shuja Khanzada (retired), as vice-chairman. The proposed members are chief secretary, additional chief secretary, secretaries of finance, communication and works and information departments, LDA director-general, Lahore DCO, environment secretary Kamran Lashari, communication and works department chief architect and Bab-i-Pakistan secretary Abdul Aziz.
In the proposed national memorial council, the government has mentioned the president as patron-in-chief and the prime minister as chairman. The Punjab chief minister is the vice-chairman along with his counterparts in the other three provinces and the prime minister of Azad Kashmir.
Currently, prime minister is the patron-in-chief and Punjab chief minister the chairman. There is no mention of the Azad Kashmir prime minister or any other official.
Members of the proposed council are PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Taj Khanzada, Justice Javed Iqbal (retired), Majid Nizami, Dr Ziaul Islam, Mukhtar Masood, Dr Safdar Mahmood, Mahmood A. Haroon, Syed Ghaus Ali Shah, Fida Mohammad Khan, Justice Mian Burhanuddin (retired), Sartaj Aziz, Sardar Usman Jogezai, Jam Mohammad Yousaf and Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan.
Members from the federal area, the Northern Areas and FATA are also proposed besides the Lahore Nazim and two women to be nominated by the council. The council could also appoint other official or non-official member as and when needed.
The deceased members of the existing council are Mian Mumtaz Khan Daultana, Khwaja Mohammad Safdar, Chaudhry Mohammad Hussain Chatha, Maulana Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi, Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Justice Zakiuddin Pal (retired), Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi, Dr Mohammad Arif, Qazi Abdul Majid Abid, Maulana Mohammad Ismail Zabih, Zain Noorani and Khwaja Khairuddin.