PTI members scale gate to enter Sindh Assembly

KARACHI: Like Monday when a Charpoy led to chaotic proceedings at the Sindh Assembly, on Tuesday drummers and trumpeters were brought in to greet the “eight suspended” opposition MPAs, who quarreled with the police against closure of gates to prevent their entry, causing unruly scenes, bedlam and vocal protest at the gates of the Sindh Assembly.

Late on Monday night, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani had barred eight lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from the ongoing session of the assembly for their unruly conduct that gravely violated the sanctity of the legislature. They included Saeed Ahmed, Rabistan Khan, Arsalan Taj Hussain, Muhammad Ali Aziz, Adeel Ahmed, Shah Nawaz Jadoon, Bilal Ahmed and Raja Azhar Khan, penalised for their unusual act of bringing in a charpoy inside the assembly hall during the session to hold a mock “funeral of democracy”. It was a protest against the ruling PPP that is allegedly stifling the voice of opposition in the house.

But on Tuesday, when these eight opposition lawmakers reached the assembly gates, including Parliamentary Party Leader of PTI in the house Bilal Ahmed Ghaffar, they were greeted by the Leader of Opposition Haleem Adil Shaikh and other fellow legislators, besides drummers and trumpeters, while rose petals were showered on them and they were garlanded as if they were guests of a wedding party.

The speaker had ordered closure of the gates of the assembly building, so that the drummers and trumpeters shouldn’t come inside the assembly as it violated the sanctity of the assembly building. However, the closure of the gates practically locked out majority of the opposition legislators who could not enter the assembly. The opposition legislators resorted to a vocal protest and quarreled with the police officials, repeatedly kicking and pushing the gates. They also tried to break its locks to forcibly enter the assembly building. They also raised slogans against the ruling Pakistan People’s Party and staged a sit-in at the assembly gates joined in by party's female legislators.

Interestingly, a few of them scaled the gates of the assembly to ensure their presence in the house. They included PTI’s Shabbir Qureshi and Muhammad Riaz Haider, who scaled the gate and managed to enter the assembly. Two female PTI MPAs Sidra Imran and Rabia Azfar Nizami also made it to the assembly from another gate. Prominent among them was opposition legislator of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Syed Abdul Rasheed, who wanted to oppose a private resolution declaring unlawful the conversion of religion before18 years of age. Terming the resolution "un-Islamic", he said that such a legislation shouldn’t be introduced in the house till it was vetted by the Council of Islamic Ideology.

Inside the assembly hall, the speaker and other lawmakers condemned the Monday’s rumpus by the PTI legislators who forcibly brought in a Charpoy. He also criticised that the security staff of the assembly were shoved and pushed, threatened and abused by the opposition lawmakers for resisting the opposition members from bringing in the charpoy to the assembly. He also lamented that female opposition legislators were also involved in the violent attempt.

Opposition legislator of Grand Democratic Alliance, Nand Kumar Goklani, also surprisingly censured fellow opposition lawmakers of PTI. He said the PTI’s lawmakers were involved in a childish and undemocratic act meant to degrade the sanctity of the house. He said it seemed that those involved in the incident "wouldn’t return to the assembly again," and added every legislator should observe the sanctity of the house. Mufti Qasim Fakhri, legislator of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and MMA’s Syed Abdul Rasheed, also condemned the previous day’s incident, but also censured the order to close the gates of the assembly as majority of the opposition MPAs didn’t get the chance to attend the session.

PTI MPA Firdous Shamim Naqvi announced to resign as an MPA in protest against the speaker's decision to bar eight MPAs from attending the assembly session. He was talking to the media outside the Sindh Assembly. Leader of Opposition in the house, Haleem Adil Shaikh, and other fellow legislators of PTI were also present on the occasion. Naqvi said democracy is practically missing from the assembly for the last three years. He lamented that the opposition lawmakers have no representation in the standing committees, while microphones of the opposition leaders were also often switched off denying them the opportunity to address the house. The Opposition Leader, Haleem Adil Shaikh, also condemned that policemen loyal to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party had forcibly closed the gates of the assembly barring majority of the opposition legislators from attending the session. Shaikh said the women legislators on the opposition benches were denied from entering the Sindh PA and charged that they were insulted by the security personnel. He said by closing the gates of the assembly, the ruling PPP had proved that the party didn’t follow democratic traditions and instead ruled the province in a dictatorial manner.