KARACHI, April 7: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has decided to boycott the proceedings of the Sindh Assembly for an indefinite period in protest against misbehaviour with its women lawmakers and violence against former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim.

This decision was taken at a joint meeting of the MQM’s parliamentary party in the Sindh Assembly and its coordination committee here on Monday.

MQM chief Altaf Hussain also spoke to the meeting and approved the party’s boycott decision.

The meeting took strong notice of the disorder and violence by “Pakistan People’s Party workers” during two consecutive proceedings of the assembly and condemned the violence against Dr Arbab Rahim and misbehaviour with party’s women MPAs.

It was decided at the meeting that the MQM would boycott the assembly sessions indefinitely and it would set its future course of action after gathering views off party workers, and for this purpose it would soon hold a general meeting of the workers.

Meanwhile, MQM chief Altaf Hussain condemned the violence against the former chief minister, who was allegedly roughed up by PPP workers on the Sindh Assembly premises.

Terming the incident an open act of terrorism, Mr Hussain sympathised with Dr Arbab Rahim during a telephonic conversation on Monday, said an MQM press release.

“The misbehaviour with our women lawmakers in the assembly forced us to believe that all slogans of national reconciliation are false,” Mr Hussain said.

Dr Arbab, who is also the provincial president of the PML-Q, thanked the MQM leader for expressing solidarity with him by boycotting the assembly’s proceedings.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued from London on Monday, the MQM chief denounced what he described an act of terrorism against the former chief minister and observed that the country would face chaos if such acts by PPP workers were not stopped.

Meanwhile, PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain contacted Altaf Hussain to express his gratitude over the role of the MQM in favour of the former chief minister. Chaudhry Shujaat termed the MQM decision to boycott the assembly’s proceedings a daring step and observed that the attitude of PPP workers was a clear example of state terrorism.