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Court to decide whether Aasia Bibi will be placed on ECL, says religious affairs minister
 [DAWN] Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noorul Haq Qadri while speaking to the media on Tuesday said that the court would decide on the matter of placing Aasia Bibi's name on the Exit Control List (ECL).The government and Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistain (TLP) had on Friday reached an agreement after which the latter ended its three-day-long nationwide protests against the Supreme Court's acquittal last week of Asia Bibi who had been sentenced to death in 2010 for blasphemy. One of the points both parties agreed on was that the government would "initiate the legal process" to place Aasia Bibi's name on the no-fly list. When asked whether her name had been placed on the ECL, Qadri said: "If you read the agreement, you'll see it says that legal process will be undertaken to place her on the ECL." "When there are cases in the Supreme Court and high court, the court itself says that so-and-so should be placed on the ECL. So we will follow that process." "The TLP also said that some miscreants used their platform to damage public property and had behaved inappropriately. The state will take action against them," he added. "We stand by the agreement, and it will be acted upon," Qadri asserted. When asked whether the TLP would be banned, the minister said that there was no plan to ban the TLP. "However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... if someone's intentions or designs are in conflict with the national narrative and policies, then hopefully steps will be taken against them," he replied. Qadri said that the role of the state and the government is like that of a mother, and the government's first responsibility is to restore peace. The minister said that the government was formulating strategies in anticipation of similar situations in the future. Posted by: Fred 2018-11-07 |
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