- MQM’s Azeem Farooqi and PPP’s Mukesh Kumar Chawla give each other a shove after trade of barbs
- Opposition Leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan says incident happened due to misunderstanding
- PPP lawmaker Sharmila Farooqi says issue has been taken care of, session will resume today
The Sindh Assembly was abruptly adjourned on Thursday when a brawl erupted between lawmakers of the Pakistan People’s Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement after trade of allegations of corruption, bribery and money laundering (to Dubai and London).
Opposition Leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan had to intervene and separate the two groups which were shoving each other in front of the dais of the speaker.
“The incident happened due to a misunderstanding between MQM’s Azeem Farooqi and PPP’s Mukesh Kumar Chawla,” Khawaja Izhar said, adding that “the issue has been taken care of now”.
The pandemonium in the House began when PPP legislator Shamim Mumtaz after 18 members belonging to both the treasury and opposition took the floor of the House and indirectly mentioned the money laundering cases registered against MQM’s London-based leader, saying “if the opposition has talked about ‘Dubai’, we will also talk about ‘London’”.
Shamim Mumtaz’s remarks angered MQM lawmaker Azeem Farooqi, who tore down the copy of agenda of the day and walked up to the dais of the speaker to lodge a protest.
PPP lawmaker Sharmila Farooqi later confirmed that the brawl happened following the speech of a female lawmaker, however, “things have been resolved and the session will resume tomorrow (Friday)”.
According to details, the provincial assembly sticking to its tradition met an hour and 41 minutes behind its scheduled time of 10:00 am.
As the House resumed general discussion on the provincial budget, members of the opposition scathingly criticised the Sindh government for what they called “unbridled corruption” and “bad governance”. They also accused the provincial ministers of stuffing their pockets with budgetary funds and accused them of betraying the province of Sindh and its people.
In all, eight MQM members, seven PPP members, two Pakistan Muslim League-Functional members and one Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MPA took part in discussion on the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2016-17.
On his turn, Abdul Haseeb of the MQM said “this budget does not resolve problems of the people of Sindh. We need a budget that resolves the problems facing the cities and villages”. He criticised the policies of the sitting government and urged them not to discriminate urban people of Sindh.
In her speech, PML-F’s firebrand speaker Nusrat Bano Seher Abbasi accused the PPP government of being the worst enemy of the people of Sindh. “PPP rulers have only given Sindh poverty, hunger, corruption and destruction. This is an anti-people budget. Performance of all government departments is dismal,” she said, adding that the bad governance of PPP rulers was evident from the fact that it had even failed to spend the released budgetary funds.
Taking the floor of the House, M Rashid Khilji of the MQM also complained about discriminating people of Sindh on the basis of language. He said that urban Hyderabad was badly neglected in the budget for the fiscal year 2016-17, and demanded the government give Hyderabad a university, upgrade the status of Kali Mori College as university and resolve other issues of people of urban Hyderabad.
Expressing similar views, Rana Ansar of the MQM said Karachi and its projects were neglected. “Even the project of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) has been neglected in the budget,” she regretted, adding that while other provinces were building Metro trains, the PPP government was not even able to revive the KCR.
On his turn, Aijaz Ali Shah Sheerazi of the PML-N said the Zulfikarabad project was anti-Sindh project and it should be shelved. “Funds should be given for Thatta and Sujawal districts instead,” he demanded, and went on to say, “People of Thatta and Sujawal districts should be provided with clean drinking water.”
Calling the provincial budget as “anti-people budget”, Naila Munir of the MQM said that “urban areas have been neglected in the budget.” She also said that her party was being targeted.
Zubair Ahmed Khan of the MQM said that problems of the people were not being resolved and uplift schemes of urban centres were being transferred to rural areas.
Dr Muhammad Rafique of the PML-F said that corruption was at the zenith and the government had failed to facilitate the people of the province. He also said that the education, health, police and irrigation departments were performing poorly.
Heer Soho of the MQM said that there was social, political and economic injustice prevailed in the province of Sindh. She demanded the government give funds to all areas. “Stop killing and maiming innocent people in fake police encounters under the terms of ‘full fry and half fry’”, she remarked.
In his emotional speech, Dewan Chand Chawla of the MQM charged the PPP with looting Sindh and its people. “The budget is not for the people, but for the rulers. Rulers should be honest with Sindh. People should be given justice,” he said. “You people call Sindh your mother, but you are biting her bosom,” he said, addressing the treasury. He also urged the ruling PPP to have mercy on Sindh and stop their unbridled corruption.
As icing on the cake, the next MQM speaker, Zaffar Ahmed Khan Kamali, chided the ministers for what he called “shameless bribery”. “This budget is just jugglery of figures. There is nothing for poor masses in it. The ministers should stop their corruption and bribery. The budget is meant for welfare of people and not for stuffing the pockets of the corrupt ministers,” he said. Kamali also complained that Mirpurkhas had been neglected in the budget.
However, the response of the treasury side was some lackluster speeches of Dr Sikandar Ali Shoro, Farhat Seemi, Kulsoom Chandio, Saira Shahliani, Khursheed Ahmed Junejo and Shahnaz Begum.
PPP MPA Syed Murad Ali Shah gave an opposition-style speech, admitting massive corruption in every department of the Sindh government. He said no file could be moved without giving bribe to government officials. “Agriculture sector needs a lot of improvement,” he said, adding “corruption and ghost employee culture should be ended”.
The 19th lawmaker Shamim Mumtaz of the PPP started her speech with a counterattack. She accused the MQM that when it was in the government it was also involved in bribery and bad government. She indirectly mentioned the money laundering cases against the MQM’s London-based leader, saying “if the opposition talks about Dubai we will talk about London.”
Mumtaz’s speech triggered a pandemonium after MQM leader Azeem Farooqi tore down his copy the agenda of the day and walked up to the dais of the speaker in protest over her remarks. Minority member from the PPP Mukesh Kumar Chawla rushed to stop him. As other members of the opposition and treasury also rushed, there began a quarrel coupled with hot words and mild pushing and shoving. As a result, the perplexed chair had to adjourn the House till Friday.