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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Two bills on honour killing tabled in NA |
| 2005-03-09 |
| The treasury members tabled on Tuesday two bills on honour-killing in the National Assembly during lacklustre proceedings on a private members day. The bills, moved by Pakistan Muslim League members Kashmala Tariq and M.P. Bhandara, were clubbed by the speaker on the request of the movers due to their similar nature. However, the speaker deferred further discussion on principles of the bills for the next private members day after members of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal opposed the introduction of the bills through voting. The ruling party members have called for declaring the honour killing as Qatal-i-Amd (intentional murder). Ms Tariq, in her bill, has also suggested punishment for those who abet, encourage and conspire or validate the commissioning of honour killing. Unlike previous private members day when the treasury members had joined hands with the MMA and the PML-N members in opposing a similar bill of Ms Tariq, Minister of State for Law Shahid Bhinder did not oppose the bill and supported the movers' proposal that the bills be clubbed. The change in the attitude of the treasury benches seemed to be an attempt to improve the international image of the government with reference to President Gen Pervez Musharraf's stress on enlightened moderation. |
| Posted by:tipper |