NA condemns Kasur incident, parliamentarians ask for exemplary action against culprit

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday suspended the regular business of the house and strongly condemned the kidnapping, rape and murder of seven years old girl Zainab in Kasur and the parliamentarians from government and opposition asked for exemplary action against the culprit.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said that it was decided in the meeting of Business Advisory Committee to suspend the regular agenda for discussion on Kasur incident. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed moved a motion to suspend the agenda of the House which was passed by the House.

Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Pirzada moved a motion under Rule 259 to discuss Kasur incident. Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah opened the debate and termed the incident very sad and tragic.

He said that laws exist in the country to deal with perpetrators of such heinous crime but there is need to ensure strict implementation on them. He said that resolutions adopted by the Parliament have not been implemented by the Federal and Provincial governments due to which such issues are being faced.

“There are lot of issues for discussion in the House but I will restrict myself to the Kasur incident and demand for ensuring strict implementation on laws and punish those involved in it. The parents, brothers and sisters are worried over this crime and it is the constitutional responsibility of the government to ensure protection to the rights of the citizens,” he added.

PML-N MNA Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha said there is need to review our performance for improvement as such social evils are not limited to one province. He said that legislation was made in our tenure to deal with perpetrators of such heinous crime and Pakistan Penal Code was amended and child abuse was termed as crime. He said that punishment of such crime was increased following amendments in the law during 2015.

He said there should be no political point scoring on the issue and reasons behind such failure should be reviewed whether it is prosecution, investigation process or proceedings of cases in lower judiciary.

He said those involved in such crimes should be publicly executed and it should be declared as an offence following g Anti-Terrorism laws.

PTI MNA Shireen Mehrunnisa Mazari said that punishment should be given immediately to those involved in this crime and fair investigation should be made against those policemen who opened fire on protestors in Kasur. She said that awareness should be given to children as how to protect themselves from such acts by informing their elders immediately.

JUI-F lawmaker Naeema Kishwer Khan said that Kasur incident is intolerable and those involved in violence against women in Abbottabad and Dera Ismail Khan should be punished and executed. She said that Islam has also certain laws to punish criminals involved in such incidents which should be followed for lesson to others.

MNA Kishwar Zahra asked the government to take strict action against the culprits involved in the killing of Zainab. She also shared the information with the lawmakers during her visit to Zainab hometown.

Sahibzada Tariq Ullah also condemned the Kasur incident said that it was unfortunate incident and government has failed to arrest the culprit.

He also condemned the Dera Ismail Khan incident and asked the provincial government to punish already arrested culprits. Ali Muhammad Khan said that the people involved in the killing of Kasur children should be punished. He said all the political parties should join hands to devise a strategy to deal with such issues.