Brawl between PPP’s MP and Deputy Speaker, female MPs stage walkout
Abdul Hakeem Mohmand
PESHAWAR
Opposition women lawmakers strongly condemned the recent tragic incident of rape and robbery on the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway and demanded from the federal government immediate arrest and exemplary punishment for the culprits.
The JUI-F member, Naeema Kishwar, said that such barbaric incidents earn a bad name for the country and urged the rulers to immediately remove the Lahore CCPO for his remarks blaming the victim for the incident, arguing that she should have checked fuel in her vehicle and should have avoided late night travel on motorway alone.
The lawmaker demanded stringent measures and strict measures to prevent such incidents from happening in future.
She also criticized the PTI’s provincial government for poor law and order in KP.
“One transgender was killed in Peshawar and another lady constable was shot dead in Nowshera, but we didn’t see the government in action,” she said, urging the government to establish its writ and provide justice to the victims.
Describing the rape incident as unfortunate and unbearable, deputy speaker Mahmood Jan said PM Imran Khan has taken notice of it.
Earlier, PPP’s Nighat Orakzai and PML-N’s Sobia Shahid, who had covered their mouths with cloth as a mark of protest and staged a sit-in in front of the Speaker’s dice when they were refused to speak on the issue. It was followed by a walkout from the house by the opposition female lawmakers.
“This house will not be held hostage, no one can intimidate me, I will not give a chance to those who shout,” Jan said, asking the lawmakers to avoid bringing the women members back to the session. “Let them fulfill their desire of a walkout,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, MMA’s MP Rehana Ismail criticized the provincial government for launching a 4-year BS program in colleges, saying that no alternative has been offered for private students. “The BS program has just been announced before any preparatory work. It has not yet been started in colleges nor educational institutions have been upgraded for such programs,” she said.
Moreover, Ismail claimed that the program was against the spirit of the constitution in the wake of the 18th amendment. “The provincial government blindly follows every recommendation of the federal government,” she said.
Khaliq-ur-Rehman, CM’s Advisor on Higher Education, replied that the Higher education commission had abolished the BA and BSc system in the country in 2019, the KP government kept continuing the two-year program in the province despite federal government’s reservations.
“Following the court’s decision, we started a four-year BS program across the province, we have closed all admission programs of BA and BSc for private candidates in the province,” Rehman said.
