Uproar, protest mar PA session

LAHORE”: Punjab Assembly proceedings on Friday were marred by repeated protests and uproar by opposition members, boycott of proceedings and pointing the lack of quorum in the House.

The proceedings lasted little over one hour during which several opposition members criticised Education Minister Dr Murad Raas for not looking after his ministry and ignoring the vital job that officials of education department were sending incorrect replies to the House. Opposition members criticised the government for distracting school children from their education by luring them to see PSL matches just few days ahead of their examinations. The irresponsible situation prevailing in the House was compounded by the absence of speaker, as the chairman also mishandled the questions and adjournment motions which also added to the frustration of opposition members. Amidst the uproar and shouting from both sides, the Chair had no option but to adjourn the proceedings to bring the situation under control. During the question hour, Education Minister Dr Murad Raas faced embarrassment several times over the incorrect and irrelevant replies which his department officials had sent to the question by members. To counter the opposition members’ criticism, he kept repeating the criticism of PML-N leadership by using such sentence time and again as: ‘Huge money of the people of Punjab was stolen and if it had not been stolen the situation would have been much different now. Those who stole money from people of Punjab are facing a tough Divine punishment.’

However, after some time, the opposition members began counter attacks which led to the free for all situations where several members from both sides kept shouting at one another. The opposition members rose from their seats, tore away the copies of agenda and criticised the Chair for not controlling the situation. Amidst the situation, some female members from opposition benches alleged that treasury member Yawar Bukhari had made objectionable remarks against the female members. As a protest against this mischief, opposition members walked out of the House and also pointed out that the House lacked quorum. The quorum could not be maintained after several minutes and the Chair had to send the minister for Industries Mian Aslam Iqbal and Ashifa Riaz Fatiyana to bring the opposition members back into the House. The quorum was finally completed after the opposition returned to the House. Mian Aslam Iqbal asked Yawar Bukhari to apologise to the opposition members on which he tendered apology to the whole House for his inappropriate remarks.

During the question hour, several members, including Khalid Mehmood, Abdul Mannan, Rana Munawwar Ghaus and Waris Kallu objected to the non-serious attitude of the education ministry while sending replies to Punjab Assembly members. They also criticised the education minister for being so negligent towards the working of his ministry. PML-N’s Sheikh Allauddin questioned the sincerity of the education minister’s claim that his government was making best efforts to raise the standard of education in the province while the ironic situation at present was that the government was engaging the nation, particularly the youth and children to watch PSL matches at a time when all secondary and lower secondary schools were about to begin annual examinations, thus distracting the entire young generation away from concentrating on studies.