HYDERABAD, June 26: District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil on Monday formed a five-member committee to look into and fix responsibility for the June 21 incident in which some Haq Parast nazims forced a number of Awam Dost nazims to get out of the council hall when he was presenting half-yearly report.

District Naib Nazim Zafar Rajput heads the committee, which has union council nazims, Deedar Shoro (Qasimabad taluka), Ghulam Rasool Samoo (Latifabad), Mian Abdullah Sheikh and Mohammad Khan Thebo (taluka rural) as members.

Addressing a hurriedly-called press conference at the press club the nazim said that it was indeed a very unpleasant incident. But to determine who instigated it he had asked the committee to start working right now and fix responsibility, he said.

He regretted that the most deplorable part of the present situation was that some people were trying to give it ethnic colour. By the grace of Allah he enjoyed the support of two thirds of Sindhi nazims in the house, he said pointing to the nazims who were sitting with him at the press conference.

He said that he had firm belief in democratic norms and values and was well aware of the fact that opposition and treasury were inevitable for each other in a democratic system.

Mr Jamil said that earlier Ghulam Rasool Samoo and Mian Abdullah Sheikh had called on Mehboob Abro under his directives to sort out the issue but in vain. Their reply was contrary to Sindhi customs, he added.

He and his friends believed that the district government should not neglect any area simply because it belonged to opposition members, he said.

The nazim said that out of 11 union councils (UCs) of Hyderabad (rural) taluka eight UC nazims were backed by Haq Parast Group (HPG) and UC Hatri which received Rs35 million development funds did not belong to HPG.

Likewise, the district gave preference to UC-2 in Qasimabad taluka whose nazim was Mehboob Abro, he said adding that difference of opinion should be based on principles and not just opposition.