ISLAMABAD: Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony took suo motu notice of the Trust Bill, recently passed by the government.

The committee under the chairmanship of MNA Asad Mahmood directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony to brief on the bill.

The Standing Committee also directed to issue notice to the Ministry of Interior.

According to the details, the Standing Committee showed its concerns regarding the Islamabad Territory Trust Act, 2020, which has been passed by the government, because some of the sections of the bill are not inconformity with the injunction of the holy Quran and Sunnah.

The Standing Committee observed that when someone declares his property as trust, the property comes under the ownership of Allah Almighty.

Hence, no deputy commissioner or any other officer is authorised to change the ownership of that property.

The Standing Committee was of the opinion that during the British rule, in 1923, both Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal struggled for the protection of rights of Muslims and the Trust properties. According to the Committee, even Trust Act, 1860 protects the rights of Muslims, however, the recent change in the law needs to be looked into once again.

It has been decided to seek guidance from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

The Standing Committee was informed that the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony has completed the arrangements for Hajj 2021.

However, they did not receive any information from Saudi. So, any comment, in this regard, would be before the time. The Standing Committee was informed that recommendation have been made, for many years, for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony to establish a recycling plant to protect the sanctity of the Holy Pages, but nothing could be done so far.

The Standing Committee, unanimously, decided that recycling plant would be established.

The Standing Committee directed that the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony and the Pak-PWD should fulfill their responsibilities in this regard.

The Standing Committee directed that PC-II and PC-I of this recycling plant be completed and submitted by first week of July.

Moreover, the Standing Committee directed that the amounts to establish the plant be shown in the Budget 2021-22.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021