27 June 2004	Sunday	08 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

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KARACHI, June 26: The Sindh Assembly on Saturday witnessed noisy protest and walkout by the opposition against the government's move to ban the entry of MMA leaders into Sindh.

Opposition members wore black arm-band against the ban and imposition of section 144 in Karachi.

Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah presided over the session which started about two hours late as usual.

The opposition described the government's move as 'unjustified' while the government side kept insisting that the step, taken in the interest of peace, was within the ambit of the constitutional provision.

At the very outset, Mr Hameedullah advocate of the MMA raised the issue on a point of order, and claimed that the ban on the entry into Sindh of MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad and opposition leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazalur Rahman was a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution and the fundamental rights guaranteed to citizen under the Constitution.

PPP's Rafique Engineer said on a point of order that the PPP activists and women who were staging a protest in front of the Sindh Assembly building against Munawwar Suhrawardy's killing had been subjected to maltreatment. He also drew the chair's attention towards the arrest and violence against PPP activists in front of Punjab Assembly.

Another PPP member, Farheen Mughal, told the house that her party colleagues had been subjected to similar treatment in Hyderabad a few days back.

Opposition leader in the house Nisar Ahmad Khuhro deplored the ban on MMA leaders and imposition of section 144 on Karachi, saying that the decisions were against political dispensation.

"By imposing the ban, the government had deprived the aggrieved people of their right to protest against poverty, unemployment, growing number of suicide incidents, terrorism and politically motivated killings," he contended.

MMA's parliamentary party leader Maulana Umar Sadiq termed the decision 'unfortunate' and alleged that the provincial government itself was trying to spoil the law and order. He maintained that the (MMA's June 27) peace march was aimed at restoring normalcy in the terrorists-battered city, but the government's remarks that 'it might lead to violence' smacked of a conspiracy to encourage those intending to create such a situation. He argued that the leaders affected by the ban had been visiting the city in the past also.

MMA's deputy parliamentary leader Nasrullah Shaji was of the view that the ban was not only a negation of constitutional rights but was imposed in retaliation to the alliance's decision not to attend the inaugural meeting of the National Security Council.

He declared that the two leaders would definitely enter into Sindh, and warned that if anyone tried to stop them, the onus of consequences would be on him. "The opposition knows which party blackmails the government for imposing the ban on MMA leaders' entry," he claimed, adding that when the governor could lead a Yakjehti rally, then why could not the MMA leaders be allowed to lead a peace march.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement's parliamentary leader Kunwar Naved remarked: "When the so-called central leaders of the MMA had come to the city on May 13, they had destroyed its peace. These people are against Pakistan... they want to destroy peace and economy of the province and the country." Supporting the chief minister's decision, Mr Naved stressed that the ban should continue until their parties repented their opposition to the creation of Pakistan.

Explaining the position, Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad said only Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Maulana Fazalur Rahman, and no other person, were barred from entering into Sindh under the ban. He justified the imposition of the ban citing Article 15 of the Constitution, saying that the government had the right to impose such a restriction as the said article itself had guaranteed freedom of movement "subject to any reasonable restriction imposed by the law in the public interest."

He claimed that section 144 had been imposed by the city district government and not the provincial government. He said that whenever such a march took place, there was some trouble as some people resorted to extreme measures and violence.

Irfanullah Marwat asked: "When the ARD chief had declared that it was not participating in the march, why was then the PPP raising a hue and cry?"

Nisar Khuhro replied that the PPP's stand was based on principles and constitutional rights and had nothing to do with the ARD's participation or otherwise.

Nasrullah Shaji said that the section 144 had been imposed by chief secretary and not the city district government as claimed by the senior minister. He recalled that on May 12, MMA activists were killed while by-elections were under way, and on the following day when Qazi Hussain Ahmad was speaking at the funeral for some of the victims at Mazar-i-Quaid, those present on the occasion was fired upon by terrorists.