ISLAMABAD: Members of the Natio­nal Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information belonging to the opposition have asked the NA speaker to call a meeting of the panel which is being delayed for several weeks.

The requisition submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat on Wednesday has been signed by six MNAs belonging to the PML-N and PPP, who have expressed concern that the much-needed meeting has not been held even after a lapse of several weeks.

Incidentally, the chairman of the committee, Mian Javed Latif, also belongs to the PML-N and he too has signed the requisition.

“The standing committee meetings are held in coordination with the information ministry, but the information minister is adamant over amending the agenda item numbers VI and VII on the ground that they are sub judice matters,” said Saad Wasim of the PML-N, one of the signatories of the requisition.

Six MNAs from PPP, PML-N submit requisition for meeting

He added: “The information minister has been delaying the committee meeting as he is not giving time and even place for the meeting.”

The agenda item VI is “to discuss the issue published in electronic and print media and also discussed in the previous meeting of the standing committee on information and broadcasting regarding ex-CJ GB claims in signed affidavit: ‘Saqib Nisar directed not to release Nawaz, Maryam before 2018 elections”.

The agenda item VII is “to discuss the issue of audio recently released by Mr Ahmed Noorani regarding ex-chief justice of Pakistan Mr Saqib Nisar”.

Other agenda items include murder attempt on former senior journalist Absar Alam, attack on journalist Asad Toor and registration of FIRs against senior journalists Hamid Mir and Asma Sheerazi.

Another agenda item is related to columnist and TV news analyst Hassan Nisar who has made a statement on PTV that those who take the name of democracy “should be shot dead and the cost of the bullet should be recovered from their families”.

The requisition has been signed by Mian Javed Latif, Saad Wasim, Rana Iradat Sharif, Nadeem Abbas, Maiza Hameed and Naz Baloch.

The requisition, made under the Rule 225 (4) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007, states that the chairperson of the committee has to call a meeting of the committee within 14 days from the filing of requisition.

The committee’s earlier meeting was called by the chairman on Dec 29, 2021 at the PTV headquarters, but the information ministry did not allow it.

As a result, the chairman held the meeting on the road outside the PTV headquarters to protest against what he termed the unbecoming attitude of Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

Mr Latif said that the committee had held several meetings on important issues, but the minister had never attended the meetings nor was he giving time to coordinate over matter of serious concerns.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2022