Senate Committee approves amendment for nationwide implementation of Zainab alert bill

Senate Committee approves amendment for nationwide implementation of Zainab alert bill

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Senate Committee on Human Rights on Monday approved amendment which proposed nationwide implementation of Zainab alert bill.

Senator Mustafa Khokar chaired the meeting of committee to review Zainab alert bill. He said that if shortcomings within the bill are fixed, it will bring change in the entire country.

Mustafa Khokar said that jurisdiction of special courts should be extended to entire country and they should be bound to settle cases within three months. He added that FIR registration is delayed because policemen do not file FIR properly.

Senator Krishna Kumari expressed concerns over the bill and said that non-Muslim girls are abducted in Sindh and then return with a ‘husband’. She added that Zainab alert bill will not benefit minorities as no action is taken against forceful conversions.

However, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senator Quratul Ain Marri opposed the bill, stressing that it violated the 18th Amendment that empowered provinces to legislate on the matter. The bill previously only applied to Islamabad.