KARACHI, Aug 27: Treasury benches in the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday blocked opposition’s bid to bring Greater Thal Canal and other issues, which were on the day’s agenda of the requisitioned session, under discussion on technical ground through numerical advantage.

Much of the time was wasted in uproars on flimsy grounds from both sides of the divide, which at the end of the day seemed to be deliberate on part of the treasury benches, who manipulated the situation to their advantage as the opposition lacked coherence and a tactical strategy to compel the government to discuss the agenda.

It all happened when the proceeding resumed at about 1.45pm after break for the Zohar prayers.

As soon as the Leader of the Opposition, Nisar Khuhro, stood up to press for taking up the agenda, Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah asked the House to first decide about the extension in time which, according to rules, ends at 1.30pm during summer.

He asked Mr Khuhro and law minister Chaudhary Iftikhar to either mutually agree to some arrangement or Mr Khuhro should move a motion for extension in time for seeking approval by the House.

Mr Iftikhar, along with some other ministers, stood up and opposed any extension in time on the grounds that their work would suffer. They insisted that proceedings should commence at 9.30am and end at 1.30pm as per rules so that they could be free to look after their work in the afternoon. The law minister said that matters pertaining to relief to the rain-affected areas would also suffer if they did not attend to them. He said that if the opposition was serious in discussing people’s problems, it should turn up on time.

Nisar Khuhro accused the ruling coalition of running away from discussion on vital issues which pertained to the survival of people and ecology of Sindh.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah of the PPP pointed out that in the budget session and other previous ones, the Speaker had allowed time extensions for late afternoon sittings but it seemed that treasury benches were determined to bulldoze real issues of Sindh through the weight of numerical strength in the House.

He warned the government benches that if they persisted with such attitude, they would repent as all the time they would not be sitting on the treasury benches. He called for better sense to prevail.

But Education Minister Irfanullah Marwat remained adamant on following the rules and insisted that the opposition should not consider itself the only custodian of the people.

Mr Khuhro retorted by saying that opposition had provided the quorum, though late, but had the treasury side arrived earlier, they could have also done so and discussed problems of the people, if they really cared for them.

He alleged that the ruling party members had deliberately blocked a discussion on the GTC and other vital issues because they were supportive of the LFO. “They want to run away from their commitment, made to the people of Sindh on the floor of the House, that they would not let the GTC project be completed,” he alleged.

When the government benches refused to agree to any extension in time, Mr Khuhro was left with no option but to move a motion for the purpose. It was defeated and the House was adjourned to meet again at 9.30am on Thursday. During counting of heads, opposition members kept on raising slogans of ‘Go Musharraf go’ and ‘LFO, GTC not acceptable’.

Today’s agenda, among other things, included the motions asking the provincial government to vigorously follow the two unanimous resolutions passed by the Assembly against the Greater Thal Canal project and to take more steps for the rehabilitation process in the devastated areas of the province.

The PPP Parliamentarians’ five-point agenda wanted the assembly to discuss that how the provincial government had pursued the two unanimous resolutions passed against the GTC; the critical situation arising out of the devastating rains and the provincial government’s inadequate measures; the role of certain police officials in the killing of one, Muhammad Hussain of Badin, for seeking a bag of flour in Nawabshah; and holding of a Taluka Nazim hostage instead of arresting the culprits who had burnt car of the MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio.

The opposition also wanted a discussion on the overall law and order situation and the allotment of land to the personnel of armed forces in Garhi Yasin and Thatta.

Earlier, when proceedings commenced late, disorder from either side was witnessed. At the outset, Syed Murad Ali Shah of the PPP complained that his bills had not been taken note of, despite considerable delay. The Speaker informed him that they had been sent to relevant quarters for their opinion. Opposition members complained that the chair was deliberately trying to muffle their voice.

As the members from either side got restive, the Speaker reminded them that if there was disorder in the House, he would again adjourn proceedings, as he had done on Tuesday.

However, the disorder picked up during question hour when Nisar Khuhro insisted that the Minister for Mineral Development, Muhammad Usman Malkani, read out the whole answer pertaining to the steps taken for the development of Thar coal fields. The minister tried to avoid this because he faced difficulty in reading.

The rumpus aggravated when Deputy Speaker Rahila Tiwana occupied the chair vacated by the Speaker for some time during the course of question hour.

She plucked up courage and kept on warning the opposition members that if they would not maintain order, she would adjourn proceedings. She turned a blind eye to the disorderly behaviour of the treasury members.

In the meantime, she asked the Sports Minister, Naeem Ishtiaq, to read out his reply in response to the question by the opposition’s Mohammed Rafiq Advocate.

However, the questioner insisted on reading the question and complained that since nothing was audible, the order in the House be restored first.

The opposition contended that how could she chair the session when her election as deputy speaker was pending a verdict in court.

The situation, however, came under control when the Speaker returned and relieved Ms Tiwana. The question hour then continued without any disturbance.

During the session, the MMA’s parliamentary leader Maulana Umer Sadiq drew the attention of the House to the unrest created by the demolition operations in the four union councils of PS 90 and 91.

He said that the people living there for several decade were being dislodged with connivance of the KMC and other concerned departments. He warned that if the operation was not stopped, public protest might follow leading to some untoward incident.

Education minister pointed out that as per Maulana Sadiq’s statement, this matter pertained to city government and the provincial government had nothing to do with it.

However, he added, as desired by the Speaker, the adviser on local government would be asked to look into the matter.

Once again on Wednesday, the controversy over disbursement of zakat generated some heat as Hafiz Naeem of the MMA challenged some of the claims of the concerned minister on eligibility of recipients and cited Quranic verses. He claimed that local zakat committees had the right to decide about the eligibility and claimed the zakat-seekers declared by the minister as ‘not eligible’ were deserving.

But the minister said he would investigate the entire list and the deserving ones would be given zakat.

Nasrullah Shaji claimed that zakat fund of Rs660 million had lapsed which, he said, was reflective of the government’s performance.

The concerned minister informed the House that all the lapsed amount was released to the ministry on Tuesday. Jam Tamachi wanted the whole system of zakat distribution to be reorganized, saying that it was, at present, being misused.

Journalist covering the session staged a token boycott of Wednesday’s proceedings to condemn the arrest of newsmen covering a women protest against the GTC project at Jamshoro on the occasion Gen Musharraf’s visit on Tuesday.

SPEAKER’S REMARKS: Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah said on Wednesday that by indulging in slogan-mongering and creating disorder in the House, opposition was not doing justice to its electorates.