Fists, punches thrown in Sindh Assembly

KARACHI: The government and opposition members in the Sindh Assembly resorted to verbal and physical attacks on each other on Friday after the latter were denied permission to speak on recent spike in HIV positive cases in Larkana.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s parliamentary leader Haleem Adil Sheikh sought Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani’s permission to begin debate on the issue, but the latter told him to table the resolution after completion of the assembly’s proceedings. When Sheikh protested against the speaker’s decision, saying that he had made a habit of stopping the opposition members from using the assembly’s floor, Durrani rebuked, asking him to speak politely.

This led opposition benches to lodge a protest demonstration in the provincial assembly.

They chanted slogans while displaying placards against the government.

They also attempted to mount on the speaker’s rostrum after surrounding his dais, however, the treasury benches members prevented it from happening.

During the tussle, Haleem Adil Sheikh and PPP’s Mumtaz Jakhrani threw fists and punches at each other. The two sides also exchanged harsh words.

Leader of the Opposition Naqvi, who belongs to the PTI, was of the view that the HIV/AIDS epidemic had become a serious issue and House should immediately defer its regular proceedings to discuss this health emergency.

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho also assured the PTI lawmakers that she was ready to answer all the queries of the opposition legislators on the issue of AIDS/HIV once the regular agenda of the session had been dealt with.

Chawla said the PTI MPAs deliberately resorted to such antics in the House to cover up the poor performance of their party’s government in the Centre that had caused serious economic hardships to the people.

He said people of Pakistan had been suffering due to an unprecedented price hike of the essential commodities, massive devaluation of rupee, and an increase in the rates of utility services due to which the PTI lawmakers in the House had resorted to protest to divert the public’s attention away from the failure of their party’s federal government.

Later, the speaker lamented that he had never earlier witnessed such scenes in the House like those on that day when the opposition legislators attempted to approach his podium.

He also lamented that the opposition legislators during their protest in the House violated the decorum of the PA by using their mobile phones to take pictures and record video footage of their ruckus.