Minutes of the 3rd Meeting of the General Assembly

1. The 3rd meeting of the General Assembly of the women’s Parliamentary Caucus
was held in Committee Room No. 2, Parliament House on January 29, 2009 with
Honourable Speaker in Chair.
2. In all 38 Members attended the Meeting.
3. The Speaker welcomed the members and noted her satisfaction on a respectable
number of attendance in the General Assembly. She noted that this indicated the
interest of the women legislators in the working of the Caucus.
4. The Speaker then explained the agenda of the General Assembly
5. The meeting then formally began with tilawat by Ms. Perveen Bhatti MNA
6. Nafisa Shah, the Secretary WPC then offered the floor to Dr. Tariq, in-charge
Burns Ward, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, who presented a briefing on
the present status of Burn Care in Pakistan. He noted that it was not very effective
and encouraging. The briefing is attached as Annex-A.
7. Dr. Tariq informed that the Burn Centre was the only one in public sector.
8. This briefing was followed by Ms. Musarat Misbah, President of the Smile Again
Foundation. Musarat congratulated all the members of the WPC for their
initiative. A brief documentary on the projects of Smile Again and the prevalent
status of burn cases in Pakistan was then shown.
9. This followed a general briefing by Musarat in which she drew the meeting’s
attention that as per the trend and the reported cases in the hospitals, it was clear
that in case of women, the burnt cases were pre-dominantly intentional and not
merely accidental. Musarat also pointed towards the rehabilitation and economic
revival of the surviving cases. Her briefing is attached as Annex-B.
10. The House was the opened for questions. Nosheen Saeed asked about the notion
of electric burns. Dr. Tariq told her that in many cases, short-circuiting and
electrocution was also reported.
11. Asma Alamgir drew the House’s attention towards the alarming increase in the
cases of acid throwing in the NWFP. It was further alarming to note that there was
no burn unit in NWFP.
12. Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali informed the House that this issue was also raised in
front of the President and under his direction; she was already working on this
issue. Land had been allocated and the PC-1 was under preparation.
13. Dr. Tariq informed the House that timing was of primary importance in cases of
burn victims. They must be admitted to a hospital for treatment within 5 hours of
the accident otherwise even the most advanced burn centre would be unable to do
anything about them. It was thus important to make small burn units in all areas.
14. Yasmeen Rehman inquired about the status of the burn victims if they were
considered as “disabled” since there’s a quota of jobs for the “Disabled”. Justice
Fakharunnissa Khokhar informed that they were not included in the “Disabled
Quota”. Madam Speaker instructed to note this point.
15. Mrs. Farzana Mushtaq Ghani called for Government’s help for such patients by
strengthening the existing facilities of the Government hospitals rather than to
build new ones.

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16. Begum Attiya Inayatuallah inquired if the Zakat Fund was allocated to such
victims. She also informed that the definition of “Disabled” included burn
victims.
17. Marvi Memon suggested the formation of a Task Force of the Caucus to take up a
formidable legislation. The Speaker welcomed the suggestion, adding that the
WPC was just a recommendatory body and does not wish to take on the role of
the Standing Committee. So any such suggestions, floated at the Caucus level
would be referred to the Standing Committee on Women Development.
18. Saima Akhtar Bharwana referred to the status of children
19. Raheela Baluch implored upon the importance of proper first aid in all the
hospitals
20. Nuzhat Sadiq asked about the first thing to do if such accident happens. The
Doctor told the use of maximum water. In electric burn, one has to be very
cautious as electric current runs through the bones and the saviour can also get
caught.
21. Mehreen Bhutto said that she would like the issue to be taken on three directions,
namely prevention, treatment and care. She highlighted the importance of well-
equipped ambulances. She suggested dedicating one or two beds in every hospital
for the burn victims, providing all the needed facilities.
22. The Speaker suggested forming a committee, including the Minister, Member of a
Standing Committee on Health and Women Caucus, which should engage the
provincial and district government and see how can the facilities be provided to
the burn victims.
23. Dr. Nahid Shahid Ali suggested merging the Burn Units with Plastic Surgery
Units as these were co-related facilities.
24. Farzana Pahganwala informed that she had decided to spend her development
funds on the construction of a burn unit in her constituency. She requested other
members to dedicated some amount of their funds on this cause.
25. Imrana Saeed Jamil said that such cases were more rampant in small cities.
Facilities should also be provided to these small cities.
26. Shagufta Sadiq called for involving the media for creating mass awareness and
strengthening the legal process.
27. Fauzia Ejaz suggested providing effective training to health personnel so that
timely first aid be provided to the victims. She also inquired if there was some
specific nursing training for such cases.
28. Khushbakht Shujaat said that in her opinion, it would not be possible to stop the
selling of acid. It was thus more important to ensure harsh penalties for such
crime and then it must also be ensured that criminals are thoroughly prosecuted.
29. Ms. Qudsia Arshad informed that Nishtar Hospital is one of the biggest hospitals
in Multan but even that hospital does not have this facility. She offered her
development fund for making a burn unit there.
30. Dr. Donya said that it was more important to have a through review of the
existing states than to enact new laws. She also requested the Speaker to invite the
legislators
31. Ms Shahnaz Saleem suggested that the mass awareness drive should focus on the
far-flung rural areas as these cases are mostly reported in these areas.

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32. Dr. Azra Fazal suggested that effort should be put in training the police officials
who register the FIRs and the lower court judicial officers who try these
criminals.
33. Ms. Parveen Bhatti referred to the rural areas where people have simply no idea
who to contact and where to go for treatment and specialised attention. It was her
suggestion that special boards be erected with all the information. She then asked
if the treatment provided in the Burn Centre was free. To which Dr. Tariq replied
in affirmative.
34. Bushra Gohar said in all these cases time is the essence. It is therefore most
important to pride for swift ambulance services.
35. Khalida Mansoor MNA seconded the suggestion of dedicating beds in every
hospital for burn cases.
36. Begum Tahira Aurungzaib suggested that all such cases be medically examined as
the victims also report being physically and sexually abused. She also called for
setting up of Bait-ul-Maal desks in all hospitals so that the victims could contact.
37. Begum Belum Hasnain called for strict punishments for such criminals.
38. Begum Tehmina Daultana whole-heartedly congratulated the Speaker for her
efforts. She also lauded the efforts of the PIMS Burn Centre and Depilex Smile
Again. She informed that in her capacity as the Minister of Women Development
she had ensured that such victims are treated as Disabled and provided with the
privileges attached with their reserved quota. She said that the Ministry of
Women Development should have a monitoring mechanism on daily basis, where
any case of women assault, harassment and injustice be promptly reported.
39. Farzana Raja suggested that all women parliamentarians should commit their
annual development funds for the establishment of special burn facility in their
respective district hospitals. She also committed that as the Chairperson of
Benazir Income Support Programme she would ensure including burn victims in
the programe’s support.
40. Shahnaz Wazir Ali pointed that in Bangladesh, in order to cope with the growing
cases of burn victims, the Parliament had enacted capital punishment for such
culprits.
41. The Speaker lauded the suggestions and the interest of all the Members of the
Caucus. She called for training the nurses. As regards the employment of such
women, she announced to employ one such victim in the National Assembly and
asked Ms Misbah to refer one such deserving case to her. She then offered the
floor to Justice Fakhar-un-nissa Khokhar to inform the House about the legal
aspects.
42. Justice Khokhar referred to the cases in which Shaheed Mohtarama Benazir
Bhutto took special notice and the victims were saved. These cases included those
of Ms. Tahira Rasul, Farzana and Sumera and were contested in the courts by Ms
Khokhar. Her experience in these cases tell that as per the existing laws:
i. There’s no law explicitly dealing with acid throwing
ii. The absence of speedy courts makes it difficult for the culprits to
bring them to task
iii. Medico-legal evidences require authentication through an
amendment in the Evidence Act.

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 iv. Certainty and severity of punishment needs to be ensured.
43. Justice Khokhar stressed the need of community’s involvement and strengthening
tools for community in shape of dedicated help lines, media campaigns etc.
44. Justice Khokhar suggested the formation of a committee of a Caucus to review
the existing laws.
45. The Speaker instructed Ms. Shumaila, the Officer of the Law Ministry to note the
suggestions.
46. Bushra Gohar pointed that most of the crimes committed against women take
place within the four-walls of the house. It is therefore essential that all crimes
against women should be treated as crime against the state. Justice Khokhar
informed that in all those cases, in which FIR is lodged, these are treated as
Crimes against State and in many such cases, no mutual compromise can be
made. She stressed that FIR must be registered under Saction 154 of the Penal
Code otherwise the State would not be in a position to exert its authority.
47. Justice Khokhar said that FIR is a must as in the absence of an FIR the state can
not intervene.
48. The Speaker also seconded the importance of the registering of FIR. She also
invited all the members, who wish to work voluntarily on the re-drafting of the
laws to come forward. She, however, made it clear that Caucus would only be a
recommendatory body and will not take on the role of the Standing Committees.
49. The Speaker also implored upon the Members to leave the past follies and look
for a constructive future role. She regretted that the House must not be converted
into a debating club but should be seen as an effective legislation-framing body.
She lauded the contribution of women parliamentarians in the House.
50. Nuzhat Sadiq, WPC Treasurer reminded the Members to clear their dues for the
quarter of December-January-February.
51. Nafisa Shah then tabled two resolutions, one on Gaza and the other on Swat. After
minor adjustments, both the resolutions were carried by the House unanimously.
52. The meeting ended with a note of thanks to the Chair.