ISLAMABAD: Minister for Law and Justice Dr Farogh Naseem Friday said the opposition was politicising the matter of legislation regarding providing Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav consular access.
Addressing a news conference along with Parliamentary Secretary MNA Maleeka Bokhari, he said that a bill passed by the joint sitting of the Parliament related to Jadhav is not person-specific and said that it is a “national security” issue.
Parliament had passed the International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2020, on Thursday to provide for the right of review and reconsideration in the Jadhav case in line with the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Responding to the opposition’s claims that the PTI had given an NRO to the Indian spy, he said that the objections of the opposition on the recent legislation passed by the joint sitting of the parliament were, baseless.
“Someone said that America also does not accept the ICJ. Pakistan is a responsible country. We have cut the hands of India through this ordinance. If we would not have legislated, India would have filed a case of contempt of court against Pakistan in the international court,” he said.
Naseem said the bill is not person-specific and would be applied to all those who fulfil the criteria. India had approached the ICJ after its failure to get consular access and the ICJ had directed for the legislation, he maintained.
The minister said the matters related to national security must be discussed and criticised viewing the national security concerns and sensitivities. He said the opposition unfortunately, had been hell-bent on sabotaging the legislative process.
“The government has made this legislation in the wider interest of the nation. While the opposition parties have opposed bills on electoral reforms without even reading them,” he said.
Naseem responded to the reservations of the opposition parties regarding the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and other laws passed by the parliament.
He explained that while the EVMs and the conventional voting system were not flawless to the core, analysis revealed that the former had facets that made electronic machines better than the old system.
His remarks come two days after the government managed to get a record number of 33 bills, including the controversial bill on the EVMs and I-voting for overseas Pakistanis, passed from the joint sitting of parliament despite, facing strong resistance from the opposition.
“In the previous system, there were 10-15 weak areas to rig votes like double stamping, tearing of ballot paper or incorrect stamping. In contrast, an EVM is like a calculator and it goes live which is better than the earlier mechanism,” the minister said.
“This is Pakistan’s red line. India would have gone to the ICJ and filed a contempt case against us. The Modi government could have also approached the UN Security Council had we not provided Kulbhushan right to review,” the minister added.
Regarding the opposition’s criticism of the government’s alleged move to make changes to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) law, he said the SBP had its own statutory powers, which it would not delegate to any authority. He said it was regrettable that the opposition raised objections on various issues without studying them.
While responding to objections on the issue of census, the law minister said that the result of the census was rejected by his party MQM by demanding an audit of five percent results, which was initially agreed to by the then government but it later backtracked.
He said “now we are conducting a new census, which is the only feasible option”.
The minister noted that with the passage of this bill, India’s dream to attack Pakistan has shattered. “We cut off India’s hands through this legislation.”
Speaking on the occasion, Maleeka Bokhari said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had passed historic laws despite, all the delaying tactics used by the opposition.
Highlighting the recent bills passed by the parliament, she said all these laws made and amended by the government were aimed at fast-tracking the process of justice and easing legal procedures for the affected people.
She said that a clause providing for “chemical castration” of habitual rapists had been removed from the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021, in the light of objections raised by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).
About the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Bill, 2021, she said the previous law had flaws that hampered the provision of justice to victims, hence, a new law had been introduced to ensure swift dispensation of justice.
She explained that an anti-rape crisis cell would be set up in every district hospital for rapid medical examination of cases.
Bokhari said the government had promised to protect people’s rights and “it did so by introducing necessary legislation.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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