Senate chairman ‘drops’ violent extremism bill after opposition protest

A bill to prevent violent extremism was dropped from the Senate’s agenda on Sunday after strong opposition, Aaj News reported.

A bill was due to be presented by Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, but Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani decided to exclude it from the agenda.

According to Jamat-e-Islami’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, the government’s actions indicate that it intends to rush the bill through the Senate without involving the committee.

He explained that the bill was essentially aimed at banning the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

According to him, banning any political party would be wrong, and sections 5 and 6 of the bill were draconian.

According to sources, violent extremism is defined in the bill by referring to the use of violence to achieve any objective.

However, the bill says that anyone who incites or aids violent extremism will also fall under this definition.

According to the bill, there will be two lists for people involved in violent extremism. The first list includes organisations that are directly involved in violence or whose leaders are pro-violence. The second list includes organizations or people who aid the violence including using financial means.

Any person nominated on one of the two lists can be detained for 90 days under the bill. The detention can be extended up to 12 months.

Being involved in any activity prohibited in the bill will be a non-bailable offense. However, the person can appeal against the arrest in the high court.

The development comes days after the Senate passed a bill to amend the Pakistan Army Act 1952.

After the passage of the bills, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani staged a walkout, terming the approval in a day as “blind legislation”.

The bill “Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2023” says that those who disclose information against the interests of the country or the army will be dealt with under the Official Secrets Act and the Army Act.

It proposes up to five years in jail for anyone who discloses sensitive information regarding security of the country or the army.

The bill proposes introducing Section 26-B, which forbids any person subject to the Army Act from engaging in any kind of political activity for two years from the date of their “retirement, release, resignation, discharge, removal or dismissal from the service”.