PA denounces ‘objectionable’
portraits, slogans in women’s day rallies
PESHAWAR: The treasury and opposition members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Assembly on Wednesday condemned with one voice the display of ‘objectionable
portraits’ and raising of ‘inappropriate slogans and demands’ by marchers
marking the International Women’s Day in many cities of the country on March 8.
Through a unanimous resolution, the house suggested to the provincial
government to ask the federal government to ‘expose the hidden forces behind
this campaign and curb conspiracies’.
It said the federal government should prepare a future line of action so
that no anti-Islam country could dare undermine Islamic ideology.
Joint resolution asks centre to expose ‘hidden forces’ behind campaign
“The hidden forces have expedited efforts to distort our family system
and social values which they demonstrated in different cities on the occasion
of International Women’s Day from the platform of civil society. These demands
were un-Islamic and inappropriate,” said Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MPA Rehana
Ismail while reading out the joint resolution.
The Awami National Party, Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf supported the resolution.
MMA MPA Inayatullah Khan raised the issue on a point of order.
The resolution mover said a very small section of society shouted
‘inappropriate’ slogans to challenge religious and social values of Muslims.
He said those elements were trying to abolish the institution of
marriage.
The mover said Pakistan was an Islamic country, where no law could be
made against the Holy Quran and Sunnah.
“These NGOs hijacked the whole society and attacked the religion and
Constitution,” he said demanding a ban on such marches.
Opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani said there was no room for such
slogans in Pakhtun culture and religion.
He said a group of women had planned to hold a cycle race in Peshawar
but religious parties blocked it.
“Mr Speaker, the women marchers said that we (men) should look for our
socks and heat up our meals by ourselves,” he said asking if they could do such
chores at such an old age.
Mr Durrani said slogans like ‘mera jism, mera ikhtiar (my body, my
will)’ could not be tolerated in Pakistani society.
He said the MMA had convened a meeting on the matter and that such
marches would be confronted in future.
PPP parliamentary leader Sher Azam Wazir endorsed the MMA’s stand and
demanded the arrest of the women, who had organised marches on March 8.
He said Pakhtuns were religious-minded people by nature and therefore,
they won’t allow attack on faith.
Sardar Mohammad Yousaf of the PML-N, Qalandar Khan Lodhi and Fazal Elahi
of the PTI and Khushdil Khan advocate of the ANP also supported the MMA’s move.
Khushdil Khan said: “We live in Pakhtun and Muslim society and give the
due respect to women but nobody will be allowed to promote obscenity and
vulgarity.”
Aisha Bano of the PTI said she condemned the ‘offensive’ slogans and
placards raised in the women’s day marches but she won’t support a ban on the
groups working for women’s rights.
She said a woman was burnt alive in Mardan but no member spoke on it in
the house.
The lawmaker said the rights groups were making a struggle for women’s
rights in the country and her party would continue support for such activists.
Meanwhile, a deadlock surfaced between the government and opposition
over the formation of a parliamentary party to probe the affairs of the
multibillion rupees Bus rapid Transit project.
Opposition leader Akram Durrani while speaking on a point of order
alleged that the government had backed out from its commitment to constitute a
joint parliamentary party to probe the project.
He said that BRT was a controversial project and Peshawar high Court had
directed National Accountability Bureau to carry out investigations.
Mr Durrani said experts had also expressed reservations about the
project.
He said the government was trying to hide facts by not allowing
parliamentary party to probe the project.
Minister for local government Shahram Tarakai said the government was
ready to brief parliamentary leaders or the house about the project but there
was no need for the parliamentary party.
Information minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai told reporters that the
actual cost of the BRT tracks was Rs27 billion but the opposition and media
were exaggerating its cost to create controversy.
He said the soft opening of the project would be held on March 23 as
construction work had been completed.
The minister said the project’s total cost was Rs66.6 billion that
included the construction of 68 kilometers feeder roads and three parking
plazas, and procurement of 220 buses.
He said the cost of three parking plazas was Rs10.5 billion that would
be completed by the end of June, while the cost of buses was Rs8 billion.
The house passed the Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute of Allied
Sciences and Technology, Haripur Bill, 2019.
Two amendments moved by ANP MPA Salahuddin Mohmand were included in the
bill, while amendments of Inayatullah Khan were rejected by voting.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Promotion, Protection and Enforcement of Human
Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Buildings
(Management, Control and Allotment) (Amendment) Bill, 2019 were presented in
the house.
Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2019
03
Volkswagen CEO apologizes for Nazi
slogan gaffe
A car with the Volkswagen VW logo badge is seen on display at the North
American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.. (photo credit: REUTERS)
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The chief executive of German automaker Volkswagen Herbert Diess has
issued an apology after referencing an infamous Nazi slogan during a company
management event.
Emphasizing the importance of boosting company profits, Diess told
employees “Ebit macht frei,” seemly referencing the German phrase “Arbeit macht
frei” (work sets you free) which appeared at the entrance to Auschwitz and
other Nazi concentration camps.
“Ebit” is an abbreviation referring to a company’s earnings before
interests and taxes.
In a statement issued on Diess’s LinkedIn account, he said he was
“extremely sorry” for his “very unfortunate choice of words and if I had
unintentionally hurt feelings.” Diess also added that Volkswagen has been
running activities for three decades to ensure that the company, management and
employees “are aware of Volkswagen’s special historical responsibility in
connection with the Third Reich.”
In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, Volkswagen’s supervisory board
said it strongly distanced itself from the remarks “but at the same time takes
note of the immediate apology from Mr. Diess.”
Volkswagen was established in 1937 as part of an effort by Adolf
Hitler’s Nazi Party to promote an affordable “people’s car” (Volkswagen) for
the German public. During World War II, Volkswagen was among the first German
companies to take advantage of forced labor, sourcing prisoners of war,
concentration camp inmates – including from Auschwitz – and foreign forced
laborers to contribute to the continued production of civilian vehicles.
In 1999, Volkswagen opened a permanent exhibition at its original
Wolfsburg plant titled the “Place of Remembrance of Forced Labor in the
Volkswagen Factory.” The exhibition aims to openly present the extent to which
the company relied on forced labor and was involved in the Nazi war economy.
Diess’s gaffe capped a difficult week for Volkswagen, with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suing the company and its former chief
executive Martin Winterkorn over the German automaker’s diesel emissions
scandal, alleging a “massive fraud” on US investors.
Volkswagen was caught using illegal software to cheat US pollution tests
in 2015, triggering a global backlash against diesel that has so far cost it 29
billion euros. The company admitted to secretly installing software in 500,000
US vehicles to cheat government exhaust emissions tests and pleaded guilty in
2017 to felony charges. Thirteen people have been charged in the United States,
including Winterkorn and four Audi managers.
The SEC suit also names Volkswagen’s VW Credit and Volkswagen Group of
America Finance LLC, the entity used to sell the securities. VW also faces investor
lawsuits in Braunschweig, Germany.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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