I can’t imagine what would happen if Maulana Attaur Rehman or his brother Maulana Diesel end up on one of those European or American beaches…umm let say nude beaches? 
Senate body wants tourism minister to visit foreign beaches
Senate body wants tourism minister to visit foreign beaches
Friday, February 06, 2009
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: In an interesting development, a Senate panel has asked the government to send the newly-inducted Tourism Minister, Maulana Attaur Rehman, on a visit to verdant beaches in South France and Switzerland to get innovative ideas of promoting the industry that contributes immensely to Pakistan�s economy.
Members of the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism floated the odd suggestion amid a ringing denunciation of Rehman�s controversial decision to ban what he called immorality and the sale of liquor to foreigners in government-owned hotels and motels.
�Sir, you need to immediately visit St-Tropez and beaches in France as Pakistan has coastal areas that could be built on similar lines to attract foreign tourists,� Senator Enver Baig advised the minister. The proposal was readily endorsed by other participants of the meeting held on Wednesday.
During the heated debate on issues facing the tourism industry, the senators were �shocked� after getting a briefing on the sorry state of affairs in Swat, where several resorts have been overrun by insurgents. They frankly asked the new minister to review the ban, fearing it would hit the industry and scare foreigners away from Pakistan.
In particular, they argued, the move would discourage mountaineers, who contribute a lot of foreign exchange reserves in addition to creating job opportunities for locals.
Deeply disappointed to realise that the minister had no workable plans for boosting the important sector that has fallen on hard times due to militancy in area, Enver Baig of the PPP raised the issue of ban and wondered how Maulana Fazlur Rehman�s brother could be expected either to promote the soft image of Pakistan or attract tourists.
Under the law, Baig pointed out, liquor could not be sold to Muslims but the government had issued licences to many non-Muslims to buy alcohol from certain sale points, now closed, particularly at Falettis in Rawalpindi. He wondered what kind of policies the Tourism Ministry was pursuing.
If the sale of liquor in government-owned hotels had been outlawed, he asked, why similar action was not being taken against five-star hotels. The PPP legislator said private hotels - registered with the Ministry of Tourism - could also be barred from selling liquor under the same law.
Senator Haroon Akthar shared the view of Enver Baig as other participants patiently listened to the lively discussion at the meeting, chaired by Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal. Former tourism minister Nilofar Bakhtiar also opposed the ban, warning it would discourage the mountaineers.
They believed the minister should go abroad to broaden his �intellectual� horizon and get tourism-promoting ideas, otherwise the industry would totally collapse in the days to come. After the tragic events of 9/11, they agreed, foreigners avoided visiting Pakistan and recent events in Swat, followed by the ban on liquor, would further discourage tourists.
Strenuous efforts were required to restore the confidence of foreign tourists, they stressed, cautioning that a failure in this regard would translate into the loss of precious foreign exchange.
For his part, Rehman said he took charge of the ministry recently and was still in the process of understanding its environment and culture. He would shortly come up with some unique initiatives, the minister promised. However, he replied with a broad grin to the proposal that he should visit foreign beaches.
On banning liquor sales to foreigners, the JUI-F leader reasoned: �We need to understand that Pakistan is a Muslim country and under the 1973 Constitution, no one could be allowed to deal in the commodity.�
He went on to claim that no religion allowed the consumption of liquor, and thus even foreigners had no religious sanction to use it. Rehman explained he had only asked his ministry to withdraw the liquor licenses obtained from the Excise and Taxation Department of the Punjab.
In a Muslim state, he repeated, �we cannot allow anyone to use liquor�. However, he admitted that he could not ban the sale of liquor in five-star hotels. �I have exercised my powers wherever I could,� he told the members of the panel.
Not convinced by the minister�s logic, the senators urged him to rethink his decision that would seriously affect the tourism industry, already in dire straits because of the ongoing violence in the country and the government�s inability to accord priority to the sector that could earn the country millions of dollars.
