May 10, 2005	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1426

KARACHI, May 9: The Sindh Assembly proceedings on Monday were marred by a pandemonium over the issue of the demolition of old goths in Karachi. The issue, raised by the opposition, provoked a heated debate which eventually led to a free for all, prompting Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah to call it a day, before the house could start discussing the day’s agenda.

The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal staged a walk out on the issue, as well as the matter of the killing of an IJT activist, Farhan Asif.

The demolition issue was raised by Yunus Barai of the MMA on a point of order, maintaining that the goths being demolished had been inhibited by Sindhi-speaking families for generations.

He demanded protection to the families and called on the authorities to desist from hatching “the conspiracy to uproot them from their ancestral abode.”

While he was trying to make his point, the speaker repeatedly intervened in vain. Finally his microphone was switched off and the member walked out in disgust.

Deputy parliamentary leader of the MMA Nasrullah Shaji alleged that goths were being demolished on the directives from the Governor’s House. He also protested against the government’s failure in apprehending killers of Farhan and framing of ‘fake’ cases against Abdur Rahman Rajput. He also walked out of the assembly.

Home Minister Rauf Siddiqui, in a statement, denied that the old goths were being demolished. He said the government was, in fact, taking action against land mafia which was encroaching upon the state and private lands in the name of old goths. He vowed to frustrate such attempts by the mafia.

On the question of the IJT activist’s killing, the minister said that another youth, Atif, who had allegedly been kidnapped along with Farhan but managed to escape from the captivity, was not appearing before the investigation officer to record his statement and help police conduct the inquiry. He pointed out that for five hours after his escape, Atif did not inform police or his organization about the incident.

He urged the MMA to cooperate in getting Atif’s statement recorded. He alleged that the MMA was trying to politicize the case.

Referring to the MMA’s demand for awarding death sentence to killers, Mr Siddiqui said that by that yardstick, “should the government arrest all those PPP and MMA men nominated in the FIRs of six or seven killings in the recent days?”

Noise turned the house into a fish market when leader of the opposition Nisar Khuhro, on a point of order on the goth demolition issue, said: “While aliens, be it Burmese, Afghan, Bangladeshi or other national, are being provided protection in the province, why the old Sindhis living in Karachi goths are being uprooted and punished?” He rejected the claim of action against land mafia, saying that it had been cooked up to justifying the treatment being meted out to old Sindhis.

His comments invited a barrage of protest from the treasury benches. The speaker kept insisting that it was not a point of order. This led to acrimonious exchanges between Mr Khuhro and Mr Shah and members of both sides also joined in. Amid uproar, the chair announced commencement of the question hour.

While the noisy bout was on, parliamentary leader of the MMA Maulana Omar Sadiq recalled that he had raised the issue of goths about four months back but the government had done nothing. He deplored that same was its attitude when he had taken up the killing of Farhan Asif.

After about 10 minutes of absolute disorder, the speaker adjourned the proceedings till Tuesday morning.

Earlier, when the house reassembled in the morning, Hameedullah advocate of the MMA, on a point of order, expressed concern over excesses against journalists at the Karachi Cantonment railway station on April 14. He criticized the government’s indifferent attitude.

He also drew the attention of the house to the cartoon carried by Washington Times depicting Pakistan as a dog. He demanded ban on the paper in Pakistan, and maintained that such things raised serious questions about the government’s concern for dignity of the country and the nation.

Responding to his point of order, senior minister Syed Sardar Ahmed gave a policy statement with regard to police excesses against journalists and expressed solidarity with media men. With regard to the Washington Times cartoon, he said that the federal government had protested over it and the foreign office was taking appropriate steps in that regard.

Mr Mohammad Hussain of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement took the floor on a point of order to draw attention of the house to the remarks of MMA’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, in a TV interview, supporting the disbursement of NFC Award on population basis. Mr Hussain said that the MMA leader’s stance had hurt people of Sindh.

Syed Sardar Ahmed said that the Sindh government’s stand on the NFC issue was the same as was articulated in the unanimously adopted resolution of the Sindh Assembly. He said that the stand was not of the MQM alone, but of the whole Sindh coalition, which favoured that the NFC Award should be decided on the basis of multiple criteria, including population, under-developed areas and revenue.

He pointed out that the share of 2.5 per cent for Sindh out of the GST, which was increased from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent in 1998, was to be given in lieu of the octroi abolished throughout the country.

He said that in 1998, it had been decided that this share would be given on the basis of the octroi collected by a province. Sindh had collected 48 per cent and Punjab 42 percent.

He clarified that this 2.5 per cent share was not going into the kitty of the provincial government, but disbursed among towns and talukas on the basis of the octroi they had been collecting in the past.

The finance minister said that it had also been agreed that a share out of the NFC Award would be given to provinces on the basis of backwardness and also a small percentage on the basis of revenue generation.

He said if the MMA thought that it was all wrong, the alliance should come out with this on the floor of the house.

Hameedullah Advocate said that the resolution passed in Sindh Assembly on the issue was also the stand of MMA, Sindh.

On a suggestion put forward by Nisar Khuhro, Sardar Ahmed agreed that a briefing should be arranged for MPAs in the meetings of the Finance and P&D committees.

BOYCOTT ENDS: Journalists covering the Sindh Assembly proceedings called off their protest on Monday after a statement by Senior Finance Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed on the floor of the house that the government has ordered an inquiry into the incidents of April 14 at the Karachi Cantonment railway station.

Before the commencement of the day’s proceedings, representatives of the media committee of the house and the PFUJ held a meeting with Syed Sardar Ahmad, Law Minister Chaudhry Iftekhar, Adviser on Information Salahuddin Haider and MPA Abdul Quddoos.

The minister, in a statement, informed the house: “We are with journalists on the issue of excesses against them at the Cantonment railway station on April 14.”

Since the railway police was involved in action against journalists, the IG concerned was being asked to investigate the matter and submit his report in a week, he added.