LAHORE: A heated debate erupted in Punjab Assembly on Tuesday over student harassment cases, with opposition members Colonel Shoaib (retd) and Azma Bokhari exchanging harsh words. The deputy speaker tried to maintain order in the House.
Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman intervened, when opposition members tried to stop Information Minister Azma Bukhari from expressing her views on the harassment issue.
Azma Bokhari questioned the basis for allegations, asking why lives were being put in danger without evidence.
Opposition member Rana Aftab Ahmed criticized the government over Junaid Afzal Sahi and Ahsan Riaz Fatyana’s disappearance.
In the assembly, opposition members Colonel Shoaib (retd) and Rana Shahbaz discussed private college students’ harassment, saying that the incident was being dramatized. However, the SP claimed no harassment occurred. Now, outside Punjab Assembly, police are using water cannons and batons against female students.
In the Assembly, Information Minister Azma Bokhari strongly reacted to the opposition’s allegations of rape in a private college, saying the incident was sensationalized. She clarified the victim had slipped from stairs and had three sisters whose marriages were upcoming. She said chief minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz formed a fact-finding committee to submit a report within 48 hours.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister and other members, including Hina Parvez Butt, demanded exemplary punishment for the perpetrator of student harassment.
In the Assembly, opposition member Rana Aftab supported government member Amjad Ali Javed’s stance on corruption in the agricultural university, calling for the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the matter.
The Punjab Assembly introduced several bills, including The Punjab Prevention and Control of Thalassemia Bill 2024, The Institute of Southern Punjab Multan Amendment Bill 2024 and The Senate Hill University Bill.
Four resolutions were passed, including resolution by Rahila Khadim Hussain on Indian atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir. Ahmed Iqbal’s appreciation resolution on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s upcoming meeting was also passed by the House. The House also passed resolutions presented in public interest moved by Malik Wasif Mazhar and Hamida Mian.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024