Tag: Senator Javed Abbasi

  • Senate body approves public hanging of child rapists

    Senate body approves public hanging of child rapists

    The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has passed a bill that suggested public hangings of child abusers by seeking amendments in sections 376 and 377 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    The bill was moved by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Javed Abbasi. As per the proposed legislation, the high courts should conduct trials of the rape cases involving children within 30 days.

    It further says that the Supreme Court should adjudicate the appeals pertaining to these cases within 60 days.

    The bill, if converted into an act of parliament, will also close doors on a compromise by the families of the children who become victims of sexual abuse.

    Dawn quoted the draft of the bill as such: “Whoever commits [child sexual abuse] be punished with death or imprisonment for life without parole till death and shall also be liable to fine.”

    Under a proposed amendment to Section 377 of the PPC, whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any boy under 18 years of age shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life without parole till death and shall also be liable to fine.

    “Rape is a heinous crime; an act of violence that ruins the lives of victims. In Pakistan, rape cases are reported and registered; however, conviction rates of the accused are abysmally low. Recent events relating to sexual abuse and rape throughout the country, particularly against children, have necessitated that tough punishments should be meted out to perpetrators.

    “Current penalties are less compared to the magnitude of the crime. The bill aims to increase the punishment of rape as one of the deterrent to this heinous crime,” reads the statement of objects and reasons.

    During the proceedings of the Senate panel, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Leader of House Senator Shahzad Waseem staged a walkout. Waseem told the newspaper that he had opposed the bill because the government was bringing an ordinance over the same issue.

    However, Senate body Chairman Rehman Malik said that the ordinance should be clubbed with bill during the stage of its consideration.

  • Arabic teaching compulsory in Islamabad schools after Senate okays bill

    Arabic teaching compulsory in Islamabad schools after Senate okays bill

    All primary and secondary schools in Islamabad are required to introduce the Arabic language as a compulsory subject after the Senate approved the Compulsory Teaching of the Arabic Language Bill 2020 on Monday.

    The bill presented by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Javed Abbasi was endorsed by all members of the upper house, except Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani who wrote a dissenting note. The bill will be implemented within six months.

    As per the bill, Arabic will be taught in schools in Islamabad from grades 1-5, while Arabic grammar will be taught in grades 6-12.

    Senator Abbasi said Arabia is “the fifth most spoken language in the world”, adding that it would also open up more job opportunities for Pakistanis in the Middle East. According to the senator, the Holy Quran is in Arabic and “we would not go through the problems we are currently facing had we understood the Holy Quran”.

    Parliamentary Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Muhammad Khan also agreed with Abbasi. He said the bill was in line with Article 31 of the Constitution that says: “Measures should be taken to spend our lives according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah.”

    According to Khan, learning Arabic was crucial to “become a good Muslim […] and understand God’s message”.

    However, PPP’s Rabbani said that legislation to make Arabic a mandatory language in schools was an attempt to “use Islamic for political purposes”. He further termed this an attempt to erase the diversity of Pakistan by imposing the foreign Arabic culture.

    “The Arab culture is not mine, [the] Indus Valley [Civilisation] is my culture,” he said, adding the Arabic language has nothing to do with Islam or Quran beyond being the language it was revealed in.

    In a response to The Current’s story on Instagram, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that contrary to the media reports, the PPP opposed the said bill.