PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday paid homage to 144 ‘martyrs’ of the Army Public School and College Pakistan amid a botched attempt by the PML-N parliamentary leader to disrupt the proceedings.

The members spoke to an almost empty house as treasury benches wore a deserted look.

Around 20 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle were present in the house.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak along with his cabinet except senior minister Inayatullah Khan was absent from the proceedings.

Speaker Asad Qaisar, who chaired the sitting, wrapped up the business in less than an hour.

The treasury and opposition had decided to put off the routine agenda in the honour of the victims of APS carnage.

The lawmakers paid tribute to the students and staff members of the school, who were killed by the Taliban militants on campus on Dec 16, 2014.

They said the people of KP and Fata had suffered a lot due to terrorism.

When the chair invited PML-N parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha to speak about the APS killings, he began calling Speaker Asad Qaisar by name to the surprise of participants.

The speaker asked the lawmaker to express solidarity with the families of the 2014 attack victims saying the agenda was confined to the tragedy.

However, Mr. Nalotha didn’t listen and kept calling the speaker by name.

“We’ll do here what your party is doing in the National Assembly. I am here to give PTI a tit-for-tat response,” he said reminding the speaker of the uproar caused by the PTI in the lower house of Parliament.

The PML-N lawmaker’s mike was turned off but he continued his tirade against the PTI.

Few PTI lawmakers attempted to interrupt him but Mr. Nalotha didn’t bother and kept speaking.

In a bid to restore order, JUI-F’s Mufti Said Janan and PML-N’s Raja Faisal Zaman intervened and requested Mr. Nalotha to respect the house’s decorum.

“Let PTI and PML-N fight it out in the National Assembly. We should not disturb traditions and norms of this august house,” said Mufti Janan.

He expressed displeasure at Mr. Nalotha’s remarks.

Senior minister Inayatullah Khan also criticised the PML-N leader for disrupting smooth proceedings.

He said the lawmakers were supposed to show unity instead of get involved in blame game.

Raja Faisal Zaman paid tribute to the victims of APS attack, showed solidarity with the bereaved parents and suggested the KP and federal governments address grievances of the affected families. The house offered fateha for the APS carnage’s victims.

The speaker later adjourned sitting until next Monday.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2016