NA-246: by-election may be over —but not in Sindh Assembly

Karachi
The lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) walked out from the Sindh Assembly on Monday when they were not allowed to talk about the “hostility” the party faced while electioneering for the by-election in NA-246.
On the other hand, the MPAs of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) cheered over their victory with so much zeal that both treasury and opposition benches felt that they went a bit too far with reiterating the demand of making Karachi a separate province.
Though the session which was held after a gap of 10 days, largely remained in order, but once the chair went through the regular agenda of the day, party and communal politics overshadowed all other matters.
Deputy parliamentary leader of the MQM, Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, when given the floor, congratulated the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for holding a successful public gathering in Lyari a day earlier.
Talking about the successful by-election on NA-246, he said a new chapter had been written in political history of the country. He said the by-election had been held in the most undisputed, transparent and organised of manners.
Hassan said the voters of NA-246 by voting in favour of the MQM candidate had completely rejected the builders of “Naya Pakistan” where politics comprised swearing, allegations and hate mongering.
He said the people of MQM’s stronghold, and by extension the rest of the city as well, had also rejected parties considered by the public to be political wing of militants and those who had advocated the opening of offices by the Taliban.
He also expressed his gratitude to the Election Commission of Pakistan, law-enforcement agencies and the Sindh government for taking all the measures demanded by contesting parties for ensuring transparency and independence of the by-poll process.
“The demands which constantly came from parties resembled the way a long list of dowry items is amended and given to the family marrying its daughter,” said Hassan. “All the wish-lists of opponent parties had been duly fulfilled by the authorities concerned. However, their candidates were still bitterly defeated.”
The leader of opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Muhammad Shaharyar Khan Mahar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, also praised the role of Sindh Rangers and police in the by-election and said that it had been proved beyond doubt that the targeted operation being conducted by law-enforcement agencies in Karachi was not against any specific political party but was meant only to catch criminals.
Education minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, also the PPP’s parliamentary leader in the House, also congratulated the MQM for its victory. He said he had no believed in the notion being propagated as the “Naya Pakistan” by a political party. He said he wanted the “Purana Pakistan” founded on the principles of tolerance and good manners.
After this the floor was opened for PTI MPA Khurrum Sherzaman. Though he congratulated the MQM, as soon as he was done with it, he began to complain of the difficulties his party had faced during electioneering for the by-election.
“If one party has so much confidence in its popularity then why was PTI’s election camp dislodged and its articles forcibly taken away, and workers had to face a hostile environment in which they were pelted with stones?” he asked.
Sherzaman wanted to go on but he was cowed down by MQM legislators who began shouting at him for raising such a “controversial” subject in the House.
Sindh Assembly Speaker Agh Siraj Durrani also suggested to Sherzaman that it was not appropriate for him to him to keep arguing on such a petty issue.
When he didn’t listen, Sherzaman’s microphone was switched off, inciting him and his fellow MPAs —Dr Seema Zia, Syed Hafeezuddin and Samar Ali Khan — to walk out in protest from the House.
Later in the session, information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon too congratulated the MQM for winning the by-election on April 23 but advised its lawmakers to be a bit more accommodating in letting the PTI MPAs speak their mind.
Mehtab Akbar Rashdi of the PML-F said the MQM had every right to celebrate its victory in NA-246 but it was no time for its leadership to reiterate its demand for the division of Sindh by asking to make Karachi a new province.
Education minister Nisar Khuhro also added that demanding division of Sindh again was completely uncalled for when the Sindh Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution against it.
Responding to this, MQM’s parliamentary leader Syed Sardar Ahmed said party chief Altaf Hussain had clarified that only administrative units should be carved out and that too within the framework of the constitution.
Hassan also quipped that the supposed controversy pertaining to the division of Sindh was being raised in the House with meticulous timing to prejudice the festivities of MQM and give it an ethnic colour.
He pointed out that the MQ had been a signatory to the resolution passed for an undivided Sindh.
Meanwhile, earlier, the Sindh Assembly passed into law the Sindh Service Tribunals (Second Amendment) Act 2015 for making two years the tenure of chairman and two members of the tribunal.

Sensitive installations
Earlier in the session, speaker Agahr Siraj Durrani said the Sindh Assembly building had become exposed to serious security risks for which he had written to the Inspector General of Police and Director-General Rangers in Sindh asking them to take steps for securing the facility.
He said he had also informed them of the areas and alleys around the building which needed to be cleared and secured.

Garbage lifting
On a call-attention notice, information and local government minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said Karachi generated 12,000 tons of waste on every day while the current capacity for lifting and disposing it was not beyond 4,500 tons.
However, he said the situation would soon improve once the newly-established Sindh Solid Waste Management Board starts working. He said the board will arrange the disposal of waste on scientific basis in collaboration with the private sector.