KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Friday strongly condemned the Indian forces attack on the internationally recognised Line of Control (LoC) and termed the unprovoked violation of the LoC an attack on the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan.

Three resolutions on the subject, moved by Senior Minister Nisar Ahmad Khuhro and Parliamentary Party leaders Syed Sardar Ahmad of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Nand Kumar Goklani of the Pakistan Muslim League-Funtional respectively, were unanimously passed when put to the house.

Through the resolutions, the house paid rich tribute to the brave Pakistan Army soldiers, Havildar Jumma Khan and Naik Imtiaz Ahmed, who sacrificed their lives while defending the homeland. The resolutions said that India, which immediately after Independence in 1947 forcefully occupied Muslim-majority Kashmir, had been defying United Nations resolution on the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir by unleashing barbaric brutalities on freedom fighters. On Sept 29, 2016 the Indian forces again violated the ceasefire along the recognised international LoC and opened fire resulting in the martyrdom of two Pakistani soldiers. The Modi government with this inhuman attitude could not weaken the freedom spirit of the Kashmiris, the resolutions said. In this hour of grief, the people of Sindh were not only with the people of Kashmir but also saluted the spirit of our brave forces, added the resolutions.

Earlier speaking on the resolutions, a number of legislators gave a clear warning to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that if a war was imposed, Pakistan would teach a lesson to India. They said Modi was an extremist and maniac person who should better not have any misunderstanding about Pakistan. The people of Pakistan are united to meet any aggression, the lawmakers added.

The legislators who got the opportunity to speak on the resolutions included Khairunnisa Mughal, Dr Mahesh Mullani of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Rauf Siddiqui and Faisal Sabzwari of the MQM, Mehtab Akbar Rashdi and Saeed Nizamani of the PML-F, Samar Ali Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Sorath Thebo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

After adoption of the resolutions, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani read out the order from Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan to prorogue the session.

The other business taken up by the house included the presentation of a quarterly report (April-June 2016 ) on “receipt of the province 2015-16, current revenue expenditure 2015-16, current capital expenditure 2015-16 and development expenditure 2015-16”.

Sindh Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmad Khuhro also laid the audit reports on the accounts of defunct district governments in the province for the audit year 2008-09 which were also referred to the Public Accounts Committee to report back to the assembly its report on the audit document within a year.

Besides, two reports on the private bills – The Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill and the Establishment of Sindh Minorities Rights Commission Bill – were presented in the house by PPP lawmaker Dr Khatumal Jeevan on behalf of the chairman of the committee. The bills had been moved by PML-F lawmaker Nand Kumar Goklani and referred to the relevant standing committee on Jan 26, 2016.

Earlier, responding to the call attention notice of MQM lawmaker Mohammad Salim Rajput about resources of North Sindh Urban Service Corporation (NSUSC), Mr Khuhro informed the house that the corporation was formed in 2006 by an agreement with the ADP to carry out cleanliness services in Khairpur, Larkana, Rohri, Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Sukkur. He said its performance remained unsatisfactory, but the government was paying due attention to the issue.Replying to the call attention notice of PML-N lawmaker Syed Amir Haider Shirazi about the sale of local liquor and gambling dens in the Makli necropolis, the senior minister said the police were alert and taking necessary actions and made many arrests to check the menace.

Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro responding to the call attention notice of MQM lawmaker Deewan Chand Chawla informed the house that nine speed bumps were part of the newly built Bunder Road in Sukkur so that number of traffic accidents could be curtailed. If needed, he added, more speed breakers could be built on the road.

Responding to the notice of PML-F lawmaker Nusrat Saher Abbasi regarding fake recruitment of 13,000 employees in local government department, the minister informed the house that the anti-corruption establishment was investigating the issue. The ACE also registered some FIRs against certain officials and those found responsible would be taken to task, he added.

At the outset of the proceedings, leaders of all parliamentary parties agreed that Fateha khwani would be offered and one-minute silence would be observed in the assembly only on the demise of parliament members, their close relatives, victims of incidents and the persons with a record of outstanding services to the community so that time could be saved for the business on the order of the day.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2016