PA session abruptly adjourned to avoid scuffle between opposition, treasury lawmakers

The ongoing session of the Sindh Assembly was abruptly adjourned on Tuesday to avoid a scuffle between treasury and opposition legislators as both traded barbs over the water shortage issue in the province.

The exchange of heated words caused chaos in the house as Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani was unable to maintain decorum. Durrani, sensing gravity of the situation and to avoid complete chaos in the house, abruptly ordered adjournment of the proceedings.

The provincial legislature witnessed noisy arguments from opposition and treasury MPAs soon after an explanatory statement made by Irrigation Minister Shoail Anwar Siyal.

The minister told the house that the assembly had passed a resolution the previous day against the alleged injustices being meted out to Sindh by the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) in distributing water among the provinces.

He alleged that the TP Link Canal had been opened in Punjab the previous night, exacerbating the water shortage in the province. He said that earlier in the day the Irsa chairman in a meeting of the authority had ridiculed Sindh’s member and a book had been thrown in his face.

The irrigation minister said he strongly condemned the uncalled-for act of the Irsa chairman. Parliamentary Affairs’ Minister Mukhesh Kumar Chawla said they would not tolerate any unjust action against the Irsa member belonging to the province.

He said that due water share of the province had been denied through the use of coercive means. He demanded the removal of the Irsa chairman, saying he didn’t have any authority to act in an insulting member against the member of the authority representing Sindh.

An MPA of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, Sharjeel Inam Memon, suggested that the Irsa chairman should be summoned to appear before a committee of the house members in order to make him learn how to behave in meetings of the authority.

The house witnessed pandemonium after a statement of opposition legislator of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Bilal Ghaffar, who alleged that a provincial minister during his speech in the house had threatened the opposition politicians. He said they would not be influenced by such threats.

The opposition and treasury legislators stood from their seats as they moved towards one other for a scuffle, but timely adjournment of the session by the speaker prevented the situation from turning uglier.

Earlier, during the question hour, an opposition legislator belonging to the Grand Democratic Alliance, Arif Mustafa Khan Jatoi, pointed out that the law and order situation in District Shikarpur had become highly adverse as punishments were being handed out to merely nine to 10 per cent outlawed persons there.

Responding to the issue, the parliamentary secretary for the law department, Ghanwar Ali Khan Isran, said courts were supposed to hand down punishments to criminals, and this issue could not be viewed as the failure of the prosecution department of the government.