Islamabad (Muhammad Saleh Zafer, Special Analyst) In the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, it was decided to enact the required legislation to eliminate terrorism and its trends in the light of the recommendations presented by Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir, which will give indispensable powers to the law enforcement agencies. It was decided to convene separate sessions of the National Assembly and Senate on April 7 and 8 to consider and approve the laws. The new laws will be in line with the requirements of the hard state. Like the past, they may also have sunset clauses. The proposed legislation will not affect the civil liberties available in the constitution. The sessions of the parliamentary houses will continue for two weeks. They will discuss terrorism and President Asif Zardari’s address. The issue of bringing PTI Senator Chaudhry Ijaz, who has been accused of terrorism, to the house on production order will be interesting. The federal government has decided to enact the necessary legislation to eliminate terrorism and its trends in the light of the recommendations presented by Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir in the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security. It has been decided to convene the National Assembly on Monday, April 7, and the Senate the next day to enact legislation to provide the necessary powers to the law enforcement agencies to eradicate and control its trends. Highly reliable sources told Jang/The News here on Thursday that work has begun rapidly on formulating recommendations and suggestions for the proposed legislation. In this regard, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Muhammad Azam Tarar has been given special responsibility, who has completed the initial work on the legal drafts after consulting the relevant ministries and their ministers. If necessary, provincial governments will also be included in the consultation in this regard. It may be noted that Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir, while presenting the concept of a hard-line state in the meeting of the parliamentary committee, had proposed to eradicate those who are taking undue advantage of the soft state, in which not only those who harm national interests will be dealt with with strict hands, but measures will also be taken to prevent them from taking advantage of any leniency found in the state system. In this regard, law enforcement agencies and their officials will also be given counter-insurgency and disciplinary powers.
It has been learned that after complete control over terrorism and peace-breaking activities, if any of these laws are to be abolished, for this purpose, the implementation and effectiveness of some laws will be made subject to the sunset clause. Such legislation was also made in 2014 immediately after the Army Public School tragedy under the National Action Plan. Sources have clarified that the new legislation will ensure that the basic guarantees provided in the constitution for the provision of civil liberties and justice will not be adversely affected by the new laws. It should be noted that Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Muhammad Azam Tarar is a great advocate of democratic freedoms and his struggle in this regard is viewed with envy. According to sources, the National Assembly session is being convened on April 7 while the Senate session is being convened on April 8. The issue of bringing PTI member Chaudhry Ijaz from Punjab to the house will be very important for the Senate session. His production order was issued by Chairman Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. The government had not brought him in the last three sessions. On this, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani boycotted the proceedings of his house and was not available to preside over the session. In the last session, he came when another detained PTI member, Aun Abbasi Pabbi, was brought to participate in the proceedings on his production order. Chaudhry Ijaz is accused of participating in the incident of looting the Jinnah House, the residence of the Corps Commander in Lahore. He was in jail and later shifted to the hospital. It is learned that the sessions of both the parliamentary houses will continue for two weeks and in addition to the current wave of terrorism, there will also be a discussion on President Asif Ali Zardari’s address to the Shura Council.