KARACHI: Nearly three months after submitting their resignations in the federal and provincial assemblies while expressing reservations over the Rangers-led targeted operation in the metropolis, Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly on Friday submitted their request to Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani for the withdrawal of their resignations.

MQM lawmakers had simultaneously tendered resignations in the National Assembly, Senate and the Sindh Assembly on Aug 12.

Led by MQM parliamentary party leader Syed Sardar Ahmad and leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hasan, the provincial lawmakers called on the speaker at his chamber in the assembly and handed over all the 51 applications to the speaker.

Mr Durrani handed over the applications to PA secretary Omar Farooq Buriro, who is also heading a committee earlier formed to scrutinize the resignations, directing him to prepare a report in the light of the rules and submit it to him at the earliest.

Asked about the time the committee could take before considering the applications, Mr Buriro told Dawn that a meeting of the committee was summoned on Sunday to scrutinize each case for withdrawing their resignation and prepare its report in the light of the rules of business.

Talking to media persons outside the speaker chamber in presence of other MQM lawmakers Syed Sardar Ahmad, Salim Bandhani and Heer Soho, Mr Hasan said their party wanted peace in Karachi and backed the ongoing operation that should be carried out against criminals and terrorists.

In reply to a question, he said the MQM after returning to the assembly would play its due role of the opposition. “We would play a constructive role to change the system of government. We had submitted our resignations after finding ourselves helpless but now the process has been initiated to address our reservations,” he said. In reply to yet another question, the leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly said that the credit for holding local government elections in the country went to the MQM.

He termed the Khairpur incident extremely regrettable, saying that all those who were killed were sons of Sindh. He said that the Sindh government ought to ask the election commission that no such incident recurred in places where local government were being conducted in the second and third phases.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2015

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