Tuesday 1 April 2014

Treasury MNAs oppose lifting ban on YouTube



 












ISLAMABAD: The treasury members of the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday opposed a resolution demanding the lifting of the ban on YouTube while another resolution, seeking an improvement and regulation in the curriculum of religious seminaries, was passed in the House. Both resolutions were tabled by Pakistan People’s Party MNAs from the opposition.
MNA Shazia Marri submitted the resolution seeking to lift the imposed YouTube ban. She was of the view that YouTube was accessible through proxy websites and there was no point in maintaining the ban. The resolution was opposed by the treasury members of the House while NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq delayed the matter.

Syed Naveed Qamar said, “We have agreed with the government to modify the resolution and move it next week.”Shazia Marri said that around one billion people were using YouTube across the world and students were also using it for their research work.

Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid said that the issue of YouTube was in the high court and a decision would be taken after the verdict of the court.Dr Arif Alvi also supported the idea of lifting the ban on the website after taking protective measures to remove objectionable material from it.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousuf on Tuesday apprised the NA that the government had launched the “Madrassa Reforms Scheme” to provide modern education along with religious teachings in Madrassas across the country. He said the reforms had been brought after a consensus amongst religious scholars of different school of thoughts.

There are 8,000 Madrassas in the country registered under this reforms scheme in which scientific education was being provided to students keeping in view the need of the hour, he said.Dr Nafisa Shah had moved a resolution in the Lower House urging the government to take adequate steps for regulating and improving the Madrassa education system, which was not opposed by the treasury benches. She was of the view that this kind of initiative would assist in bringing peace in the country.

She said majority of the Madrassas were playing a constructive role but many were also engaged in promoting sectarianism and extremism.She added that science should also be taught as a subject in religious schools.

S A Iqbal Qadri pointed out that the motion could not be adopted before discussion on the floor in detail.Speaker of NA Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that according to the rules of the House, it could be adopted and later it could be discussed from all aspects by the parliamentarians.

Opposition member from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Kishwar Zehra expressed dissatisfaction over the explanation given by Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar over the grant of $1.5 bn by a ‘friendly’ country.Moreover, the Awami Muslim League (AML) President Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed staged a walkout protesting the lack of quorum in the House.

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