KARACHI: Opposition’s boycott mars City Council session: Denial of debate on burning issues
By Latif Baloch
KARACHI, Sept 16: The City Council Karachi on Saturday witnessed fireworks when Naib City Nazim Nasreen Jalil asked members to take up the day’s agenda, rejecting the opposition’s call for a discussion on certain ‘burning issues’.
Opposition leader Saeed Ghani rose from his seat as a treasury member moved a motion on increasing the petty cash account of the Abbasi Shaheed Hopital’s medical superintendent.
Mr Ghani demanding that the burning issues of the city, such as the ban on teachers’ associations and the treatment being meted out to teachers by the administration, as well as the situation arising out of the devastating monsoon rains, get priority over the routine agenda and be discussed first.
However, the chair ruled that these issues could be taken up after disposing of the day’s agenda. Reacting to the denial, all members on the opposition benches staged a token walkout. Treasury leader Asif Siddique persuaded the opposition members to return to the house. The City Council also held a heated debate on the causes of the collapse of sewerage system in certain parts of the city, and called for appropriate action against those who had raised illegal structures on the storm-water channels, blocking the waterway.
The house called for canceling the allotment of the plots carved out of the storm-water channels and taking measures to carry out proper cleaning of the conduits to remove all obstructions creating the clogging.
The resolution adopted in this regard noted with concern that there existed no master plan for the city and no steps were being taken to improve the sewerage system.
It regretted that no new storm-water drains had been constructed while the old ones were lying clogged after being occupied by those who had been allotted portions of such drains on political grounds. The illegal structures raised on such plots had blocked the channels, leaving the city without an effective disposal system, it said.
Those who took part in the debate included Masood Mehmood, Saeed Ghani, Saifuddin, Abdul Jalil, Waqar Husain, Qazi Mohammad Rizwan, Shamim Mumtaz Wasim, Ramzan Awan and Arshad Iqbal.
Earlier, the house unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the reported remarks attributed to Pope Benedict XVI and describing the same as a part of a well thought-out plan to offend Muslims and create a wedge between Muslims and the followers of other religions, besides fomenting violence. The motive was to protect the interests of imperialist forces, it noted.
The resolution said: “Islam is a religion of love, peace and harmony, and the history is witnessed to the fact that Islam had not been spread with the might of weapon, rather it was the fascinating attitude, sinless character and best conduct of the Muslims of early era of Islam that convinced non-Muslims to embrace Islam and join in the jihad against evils and evil powers.”
The council said it was regretting to note that anti-Islam forces had misconstrued the concept because of their inadequate knowledge and biased views.
Condemning the defamatory remarks attributed to the highest authority of the Catholic church, the resolution said the remarks had deeply offended the entire Ummah.
According to the resolution, Islam binds all its followers to respects holy figures, books and places of other religions and Muslims expect the reciprocal gestures and attitude from the followers of other religions.
It observed that the uncalled for remarks had posed a serious threat to communal peace and harmony around the world and undermined the efforts put in by the former Pope towards this cause.
