Govt successfully raised Palestine issue internationally: Raja Basharat

LAHORE: Provincial Law Minister Raja Muhammad Basharat on Friday said the government had given a unanimous and effective message to the world on Palestine issue from the platform of National Assembly and all provincial assemblies.

Speaking on the floor of the Punjab Assembly here, he said everyone was satisfied with the action taken by the United Nations in this regard, adding that Pakistan did its best to highlight the sorry plight of the Palestinian people in the face of Israeli aggression on every international forum.

Earlier, the Punjab Assembly session started 1 hour 30 minutes behind scheduled time of 9 a.m. with Panel of Chairman Abdullah Warraich.

The day’s agenda was dedicated to support for the Palestinian Muslims as the opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) showed partisan support for the Palestinians in the house and the Assembly.

May 21 (Friday) was being observed as Palestine Solidarity Day across the country and all political and religious parties took out large rallies across the country to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The provincial minister hailed the fact that the house was unanimous in its support of the Palestine issue, adding that the political leadership across the aisle expressed solidarity on the issue.

Raja Basharat said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had played a leading role in raising Palestine issue at the floor of the UN, adding that it was a moment of pride for the people of Pakistan.

He said that the role of Pakistan and Turkey in the Palestinian issue had been acknowledged by the international media.

The Law Minister further said Pakistan was doing what it could do to support the Palestinian people at the international level.

He also welcomed mentioning of Kashmir dispute by the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz Sharif in his speech at the floor of the house.

He said, "PML-N and Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) raised their voice during their regimes and today PTI government is raising its voice for the Kashmiri people who had been deprived of their right to self-determination by the Indian Occupation forces."

Raja Basharat said the entire House was united on the issue of Palestine and the attitude showed in terms of politics and diplomacy was very positive that today all the political parties were expressing solidarity unanimously with the oppressed Palestinian brethren.