A department in ruin, a history forgotten
Punjab’s department of archaeology, recently devolved from the federation under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, has had no operational legislation since April 8, 2011. As a result, no law to arrest any person caught scribbling, drawing or causing harm to a monument of historical importance exists. Similar is the case with the environment protection department. Field officers and inspectors issuing notices, sealing and fining owners of pollution-causing units, have reverted to Punjab Local Government Ordinance (PLGO) of 2001. The Antiquities Act 1975 and the Environment Pakistan Protection Act 1997 are both redundant. Officers of both departments have drafted legislation to replace ...
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‘Jinnah’s Pakistan’ has no room for Hindus
Hindus and Muslims may have similar wedding celebrations, but there is no registration system for Hindu marriages in Pakistan. The Indian parliament passed the Hindu Marriage Act in 1955 which made it mandatory for Hindu marriages to be registered in India. In Pakistan, the Hindu community has been demanding the same rights for decades, but to no avail. Members of the Hindu community gave a two-month deadline to the government and threatened to hold a sit-in in front of the Parliament House in June if these demands were not met. They urged the media and concerned citizens to participate in a petition campaign as a ...
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Is Pakistan your heaven or hell?
On January 20, 2011 PM Gilani announced the inauguration of Parliament Lodges Phase II. The construction will spread across four acres of land and the initial building will cost Rs2.9 billion. The entire project is set to be completed in 36 months. The lodges include 104 residential family flats, a gymnasium, mosque, meeting rooms and five servant quarters. Earlier, Gilani also discussed reintroducing a proposal to construct a tunnel that led directly from the parliament house to the parliament lodges so that the security of parliamentarians could be ensured. Interestingly, in the same address he talked about Pakistan’s economic crisis. Our government ...
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Sugar crisis: Fed up of food politics
Had we punished the hoarders of basic food items in 2008 and 2009, we wouldn’t have to face the current crisis. Surprisingly, our ‘suo moto judiciary’ did not take notice of it. No one can deny that the current sugar shortage is self-created and that RAW, XE, CIA or Musharraf have nothing to with it. This drama is an epic mismanagement by the policy makers we have elected to operate the public relief departments of this county. We should all know the reasons behind this crisis because we are paying exactly the double of what was available only a few ...
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Does Parliament care about fake degrees more than us?
June and July have been critical months in the national parliamentary schedule because of the federal budget presentation in parliament and then the discussion for its approval. Generally nations anticipate their parliaments to discuss national budgets and come up with ideas and proposals for their well being. I come across the findings of the report of Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) entitled FAFEN Parliament Monitor. The report reveals just how much our parliament took discussed the federal Budget 2010-11 in the National Asembly in its 2pml-3rd budget session. According to the report: Only 114 out of 340 members took part in budgetary discussion i.e. 33% (June 3rd ...
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University of Panjab – anyone?
Some of our parliamentarians are being questioned on the authenticity of their academic degrees. How disgraceful that we have sitting lawmakers, most of whom might turn out to be complete frauds. Quite a few have master’s and bachelors’ degrees from an institution by the name of ‘University of Panjab’. Next thing we know, the rest will be from ‘Harward’ or ‘Priceton’. In that case, the majority of them will be qualified enough only to be disqualified. The Higher Education Commission has said that it will need three months to verify degrees of lawmakers from PPP, PML-Q and PML-N. The ...
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