The Federal Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony has decided to set up a Quran Board to ensure the error-free publication of the Holy Quran at the national level.
The decision was taken during a recent meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony with Asad Mahmood of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) in the chair.
During the meeting, the Standing Committee was briefed that there is no department at the national level for the protection and standardized printing of the Holy Quran.
At this, all members decided to constitute a Quran Board which will be responsible for the error-free and standardized publication of the Holy Quran across the country.
The Standing Committee also unanimously passed a bill to introduce amendments to the Publication of the Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) Act of 1973 to facilitate the establishment of the National Quran Board.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony, Sahibzada Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, said that the National Quran Board will be officially established after the approval of the amendments to the Publication of the Holy Quran Act 1973 from the National Assembly.
Other Decisions
Besides, the Standing Committee forwarded a bill to introduce amendments to the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) to seek its opinion in line with Islamic Laws.
The Standing Committee also examined two other bills regarding the protection of the rights of minorities.
The National Commission for Rights of Non-Muslims Act 2021 was moved by Naveed Amir Jeeva of PPP-P and The National Commission for Minorities Act 2021 was moved by James Iqbal of MMA-P.
The assessment of both bills was postponed till the next meeting of the Standing Committee.
Qadri Denies Allegations
During the press conference after the meeting of the Standing Committee, Sahibzada Noor-ul-Haq Qadri was asked about the allegations against him for renting out the old building of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony situated in Melody Market in Islamabad.
In response, the Minister denied the allegations and termed them ‘baseless’ and ‘unfounded.’ He said that the building was rented out in 2018 during the tenure of PML-N for Rs. 1.4 million, adding that the rent of the building has been increased to Rs. 6.4 million now.
