The issue of the creation of new provinces took over the Punjab Assembly’s official business agenda on Thursday as slogans from the treasury and opposition benches created an unruly situation that compelled the speaker to prorogue the brief session.
The session, convened to discuss the formation of new provinces, turned ugly when rival legislators clashed with each other in a dismal display of enmity. During the fuss, the House echoed with slogans from the opposition benches in favour of the creation of a new province in southern Punjab, countered with equal vehemence by slogans from treasury members lamenting the fact that the murderers of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto were still at large.
The opposition legislators declared Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) parliamentary leader Ali Noor Haider Khan Niazi “Mir Jafar”, to which he replied that the opposition was demanding the division of Punjab on ethnic grounds. The ruckus continued in the House throughout the session, with legislators across the political divide using harsh language against each other and boldly challenging the speaker’s authority and rulings.
The speaker continuously requested the legislators to maintain order in the House but nobody paid heed to him. The speaker even adjourned the session for an hour in a desperate bid to return some semblance of civility to the House, but the morning’s drama simply resumed once lawmakers returned from the break. Not a single item from the official business agenda could be taken up in the session. The unmanageable atmosphere in the House finally compelled the speaker to prorogue the session sine die.
Earlier, on a point of order, the PML-Q’s Chaudhry Zaheeruddin said the people of southern Punjab were demanding the creation of a separate province. He said he had submitted a resolution in favour of the formation of a separate province in southern Punjab, but it could not tabled and the speaker should grant him permission to introduce the resolution in the House. He said the people who thought the creation of new provinces could divide the people of the province should realise that at the time of partition of the sub-continent, India had only 14 states that had been divided into 29 states now.
He said his party accepted that PML-Nawaz’s suggestion to constitute a national commission to decide the issue and settle modalities, but at the same time it must be clear to all that the time had come to create a new province in southern Punjab. At this stage, MPA from Rahim Yar Khan Chaudhry Shafique raised his hand and said he was against the formation of a new province in southern Punjab.
As Zaheeruddin finished his speech, Opposition Leader Raja Riaz stood up and wanted to speak on a point of order but the MMA’s Niazi stood up and said he had the right to speak before any other legislator because he had already submitted a resolution for the creation of a Thal province comprising Mianwali, Khushab, Bhakar and Layyah. He also called opposition members who were in favour of a Saraiki province “traitors.”
The House exploded with negativity at Niazi’s comment and PML-Q and PPP members demanded Niazi’s ouster from the assembly. Fauzia Behram of the PPP also slapped Niazi when he used abusive language. Observing the sensitivity of the situation, the speaker adjourned the proceedings for an hour in a bid to defuse the tension among legislators.
Raja Riaz later urged the speaker to ask Niazi to apologise for his indecent remarks against Fauzia Behram. An emotionally charged Niazi told the chair he would not do so as he had not done anything wrong, and complained that it was Behram who had assaulted him physically and poked him in the back with a pencil when he was making a speech. This turned the House into a fish market again and caused an uproar that continued until the abrupt end of the session.
Division of Punjab divides the House
