Web Desk (LTN NEWS): On Wednesday, the hate campaign on social media against the soldiers who died when an army helicopter crashed in Balochistan earlier this month was brought up in the National Assembly. Speaker Raja Parvaiz Ashraf warned that anyone who insulted national institutions, including the Pakistan Army, would be held responsible.
During the session, which was led by Ashraf, the house ruled that the seat of Muhammadmian Soomro, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker and former federal minister who had been missing for more than 40 days, was empty.
When talking about the hate campaign on social media, the speaker said that he didn’t like how the Pakistani forces were talked about in a bad way. “Those who insulted national institutions, like the Pakistan Army, would have to answer to the House,” he said.
“The house stands with its soldiers and martyrs’ families. Anti-nationalism is the idea that national institutions should not be supported by propaganda. “It’s against the Constitution to say bad things about the country’s institutions, like the army,” he said.
Noor Alam Khan, who is in charge of the Public Accounts Committee, asked the speaker what should be done to protect the committee meetings. He said that the proceedings were protected by the Constitution and could not be challenged anywhere.
“We respect every institution and go to court, but if someone interferes with the work of the National Assembly, it is our right to stop them.
“The National Assembly is in charge of making and changing laws,” Khan said.
He said that the committee’s rules said that it could look at public issues. He also said that freedom of speech was important, but that people couldn’t be embarrassed. He said that the Constitution says what each institution can and can’t do.
Later, the speaker put the leave request of Muhammadmian Soomro, who was elected from NA-196, Jacobabad, on the floor. Soomro ran for office on the PTI ticket. The speaker didn’t accept Soomro’s application because he didn’t send it within the 40-day deadline.
Then, Shahida Rahmani of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) made a motion to make Soomro’s seat empty. She said Soomro had not been in the House for 40 days in a row. Under Clause 2 of Article 46 of the Constitution, the whole house agreed to remove Soomro from office.
During the Question time earlier, Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman told the House that 14 inquiries about the Billion Tree Tsunami in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were still being looked into by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
