Islamabad, July 07, 2023 (PPI-OT): The government should restore Phirwala fort as soon as possible and make it suitable for tourism. Shaughta Jumani International Gandhara Symposium will be held on July 11-13, 2023. Dr. Ramesh Kumar It is not appropriate to pass the Quaid-e-Azam Foundation Bill, 2023 in its current form. These views were expressed in the meeting of the Standing Council for National Heritage and Culture. The meeting of Majlis-e-Qeema was held today in the Constitution Room (Old Committee Room No. 5) of the National Assembly. The meeting of Majlis-e-Qaima was presided over by Ms. Shagufat Jamani, MNA President, Majlis-e-Qaima for National Heritage and Culture. The Majlis-e-Qaima was informed that the main purpose of the Quaid-e-Azam Foundation Bill, 2023 is to merge the Management Board of the Quaid-e-Azam Mazar and the Quaid-e-Azam Academy. However, the Majlis-e-Qaima was told that during the consideration of the bill in the last session, many errors were revealed in the English and Urdu texts of the bill.

Therefore, Majlis-e-Qaima had directed that the bill should be submitted to Majlis-e-Qaima after correcting the clerical errors. Later, the errors in the Urdu text were corrected, but the authorities concerned admitted that the translation was not of the bill presented in the National Assembly, but of the initial draft. The representative of the Ministry of Law told the Majlis-e-Qaima that they have an error-free English bill, but for unknown reasons, some errors remained in the bill that was presented for approval. However, they cannot clarify where the error occurred. The Majlis-e-Qaima declared that it is not appropriate to pass the bill in its current form until the final bill is presented to the committee after removing the errors. Therefore, the Majlis-e-Qaima disposed of the bill and directed that the concerned ministry prepares the drafts of the bill again in English and Urdu without mistakes and submit it again to the National Assembly.

Majlis-e-Qaima was told that Phirwala fort has a lot of historical importance, so it needs to be renovated and made tourist-friendly. In this regard, the government has allocated more than ninety lakh rupees in the current financial year for a detailed feasibility study. Majlis-e-Qaima expressed satisfaction over this and directed that Phirwala fort should be restored as soon as possible and made attractive for tourists. Majlis-e-Qaima was told that there are caves attributed to Gautama Buddha in Islamabad which have great historical importance. But most of its land has been illegally occupied by mafia. Also, at present, these caves are occupied by the derelict Waqf Imlak Board, but in recent days, the board has done non-standard repairs to them with a local contractor. Because the abandoned waqf property has failed to provide quality construction and repair of these caves. Also, occupation has not been able to save them from the mafia, so these historical caves should be handed over from abandoned waqf properties to the Federal Ministry of National Heritage and Culture or any of its subsidiaries.

The Majlis-e-Qaima declared that taking a decision in favor of one party without hearing all the parties is contrary to the requirements of justice. Therefore, the Majlis-e-Qaima directed that a detailed report should be taken from the Chief Commissioner, Islamabad about the area of these caves and the mafia’s encroachment on it. Also, in the next meeting, the Chairman of the Abandoned Waqf Property should be summoned personally and his opinion should be heard and the final decision should be taken. Honorable Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force for Gandhara Tourism, also participated in the meeting of the Standing Committee. The Majlis-e-Qaima welcomed Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani to the meeting.

Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani told the Majlis-e-Qaima that he will organize the International Gandhara Symposium from July 11 to 13. The special guest will be the Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif while the guest of honor will be the Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Ambassadors of various countries and monks (religious leaders of Buddhism) from Japan, Nepal and other countries will participate in this symposium. Dr. Ramesh Kumar on his part invited all the members of Majlis-e-Qaima to participate in the said symposium.

The meeting of the Standing Council was presided over by the Chairperson, Ms. Shagufat Jamani, while the members of the Standing Council for National Heritage and Culture Division were Mr. Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali Bhandar, Mr. Kasu Mil Kheldas, Ms. Musrat Rafiq Mahesar, Mr. Irfan Ali Laghari, Ms. Alia Kamran, Mr. Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali, Mr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Ms. Wajiha Qamar, Ms. Saira Bano and Mr. Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali participated. Similarly, the Secretary, National Heritage and Culture Division, Director General, National Language Development Institute and many civil officers of the division also participated in the meeting.

For more information, contact:

Secretary,

National Assembly of Pakistan

Automation Centre, National Assembly Secretariat,

Parliament House, Islamabad, Pakistan

Tel: +92-51-9221082-83

Fax: +92-51-9221106

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.na.gov.pk