KARACHI: The Mutta­hida Qaumi Movement has filed two motions in the Sindh Assembly against Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah’s remarks on the floor of the House on the law and order situation on Tuesday.

The chief minister in his speech described an MQM sit-in outside CM House as an attack on it.

The motions were submitted in the assembly secretariat by MQM parliamentary party secretary Syed Sardar Ahmad and deputy parliamentary party leader Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hassan.

Speaking to Dawn, Mr Ahmad said that after boycotting the session they met in their chamber in the assembly building and decided to file two motions — censure and privilege motions — against the chief minister and after drafting the motions handed over the two motions to secretary of the Sindh Assembly G.M. Umar Farooq.

Besides MQM legislators, Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Liaquat Ali Jatoi was also present on the occasion.

Replying to a question about contents of the motions, Mr Ahmad said the censure motion pertained to the “excesses and unjust remarks” by the chief minister in which he described their ‘peaceful’ protest as an attack on CM House.

“We have taken four funerals of our colleagues, including of Sarfaraz Alam who was killed in police custody while on the same day three bodies were found in the Mochko area,” he said.

“It was a peaceful protest in which MQM legislators were also present who only came to lodge our protest against the extrajudicial killings. We waited for the whole night but not a single person turned up from CM House to listen to our grievances and it is regrettable that the chief minister described our peaceful protest as an attack on the CM House.”

Mr Ahmad said such remarks were also a breach of their privilege as lawmakers and elected representatives of the people and they were entitled to hold peaceful demonstrations. He said that when the assembly resumed its business after two days’ recess, the MQM would take up its censure and privilege motions which were filed in accordance with the rules of business and the norms of the parliamentary democracy.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2015

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