Punjab Assembly bans musical concerts in public, private educational institutions

Punjab Assembly bans musical concerts in public, private educational institutions

In quite an unparallel move, the Punjab Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution demanding a ban on ‘objectionable’ musical concerts in the public and private educational institutions in the province.

Seemal Kamran, the PML-Q MPA, tabled the resolution, seeking a ban on all concerts and musical shows in educational institutions, and terming them immoral. It was among a total of eight resolutions presented in the House of which five were passed, two were pended and one was casted away.

About the draft, Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood asked Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan if the treasury members (PML-N) opposed the bill. The minister answered in the affirmative, after which Kamran was asked to argue in favour of her resolution.

She observed, “Pakistan is an Islamic Republic. Allowing concerts in educational institutions is against our morals. When I was in college, we used to get into trouble for keeping long or painted nails. Institutions have now done away with that kind of discipline in the name of moderation.”

She further claimed that such musical shows were nothing more than publicity tools for educational institutions. Quoting the dreadful incident of Alhamra Cultural Complex in which three girls lost their lives earlier this month, she demanded the members to adopt the resolution for safe future of the next generation.

Rana Sanaullah, the provincial law minister, speaking on point of order observed that three students had died in a stamped occurred in a concert, which had been organized by a private institutions.

He asserted, “Had the event been organised by a public college, the media would’ve blamed the government. It was unfortunate that the media had downplayed the incident “because the man who owns that group of colleges also owns a news channel”.

He also criticised the media for setting a precedent saying, “This means that anyone who owns a newspaper or a TV channel can cover up any misconduct.”

He, however, proposed an amendment in the draft. In his view, there should be no complete ban on all musical shows but on objectionable concerts. The bill-mover was agreed and resolution was passed unanimously in the House.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jan 25 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.