ISLAMABAD – A constitutional amendment bill, seeking a complete ban onconsumption of alcohol in the country, which was proposed by the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dr Ramesh Kumar, has been rejected by the NationalAssembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Tuesday.
The bill was termed ‘a publicity stunt’ and ‘a mischievous act’ by thecommittee, according to media reports.
Dr Ramesh had asked the parliament to amend Article 37 of the Constitutionwhich permits the consumption of alcohol for minorities in the country. Heproposed to ban the trade license of alcohol for the Hindu community as “itis against the teachings of their religion”.
He was joined by MNA Shunila Ruth, belonging to the Christian community,who too demanded a ban on alcohol consumption, stating “alcohol isprohibited in our religion too”. Malik Farooq Azam opposed the amendmentasking the lawmakers not to fall for ‘media hype and publicity’.
Another lawmaker, Bashir Virk, also opposed the bill, stating it wouldresult in the “humiliation for the country across the world”. The meetingchaired by Riaz Fatyana, debated over the five bills tabled in front of thecommittee; they rejected three bills while one bill each was approved andone was deferred.
Amongst the bills discussed during the meeting was a bill for Amendment inArticle 51, seeking enhancement of women seats from 60 to 61 and toallocate this female seat for Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
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After a lengthy discussion, the bill was unanimously recommended and nowthe bill will be tabled at the assembly. Another bill presented before thecommittee was “the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Amendment inArticle 51 and 106)” moved by MNA Naveed Aamir Jeeva
The bill was deferred by the committee till its next meeting due tonon-availability of mover and asked the Chairman National DatabaseRegistration Authority (NADRA) chairman and Secretary of the StatisticsDivision attend the next meeting along with data related to this bill.
The moot was attended by MNAs Atta Ullah, Lal Chand, Farooq Azam Malik,Maleeka Ali Bokhari, Sana Ullah Khan Masti Khel, Sher Ali Arbab, ShunilaRuth, Rana Sana Ullah, Mehmood Bashir Virk, Usman Ibraheem, Khawaja SaadRafique, Saad Waseem, Aliya Kamran and Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwai.
