KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly echoed with the killing of three people over trespassing of cattle into a field in a village near Sanghar as an opposition lawmaker pointed out the gruesome incident and raised the issue of the sit-in by the victims’ families and their refusal to bury their dead until registration of an FIR on Wednesday.
On Jan 26, three people were gunned down and 19 others, including women, were wounded when two groups of the Junejo community exchanged gunfire.
The protest sit-in continued for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday in Sanghar and the participants demanded an FIR against Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Salahuddin Junejo, aka Allauddin, and others named by them.
On Wednesday, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan lawmaker Sabir Qaimkhani raised the issue on the point of order during the assembly session.
Justice will be done in every possible way, minister tells lawmakers
He said that the heirs of the victims were demanding registration of the case.
In reply to the point of order, Energy Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the situation in Sanghar, where the incident had occurred, was being monitored.
He claimed that the people who the bereaved families wanted to name in the FIR were ‘not present’ at the scene of the incident.
He, however, said that the government shared the grief of the victims’ families and assured them that justice would be done in every possible way.
“We are with the oppressed and the PPP leadership went there to sympathise with the oppressed and express solidarity with them,” he added.
On a point of order, MQM-P’s Shariq Jamal said an elderly man fell and drowned in an open drain in his constituency.
“It is the responsibility of the provincial government to clean and cover the drains,” he said.
MQM’s Dr Basit on his point of order said that some time ago the mayor had introduced a call centre number where complaints about manhole covers could be lodged. “But no calls are being attended there,” he said.
The Auqaf minister said that Karachi was a big city and the helpline must be busy.
Ministers’ absence mars another private members’ day Meanwhile, yet another private members’ day in the Sindh Assembly was marred as none of their business on the agenda was taken up.
The assembly business for the day included an adjournment motion, five resolutions and three motions, all pertaining to issues of public importance, were forwarded by opposition members and a motion by a treasury member.
The adjournment motion was forwarded by MQM-P’s Qurat-ul-Ain Khan regarding an alarming increase in incidence of kidnapping of children in the city.
Parliamentary Leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council Muhammad Shabbir also forwarded a resolution on the issue of children’s kidnapping seeking exemplary punishment for the culprits.
Through his resolution, MQM-P’s Aneel Kumar had sought cancellation of all liquor licences and an immediate complete ban on the sale and purchase of liquor.
MQM-P member Kiran Masood in her resolution demanded the initiation of a new train service in the name of the revered Sufi Saint Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi.
Muhammad Aamir Siddiqui of the MQM-P in his resolution urged the provincial government to allocate a designated plot for a new graveyard in district East.
MQM-P’s Qurat-ul-Ain Khan in her resolution asked the government to immediately stop the process of giving admissions in intermediate classes on the basis of 9th class results.
The motions filed by opposition members pertained to the issues of sanitation in the city and tree plantation and spread of polio in the province.
PPP’s Heer Soho in her motion sought change in the schedule of winter and summer vacations in educational institutions.
None of the above businesses on the assembly agenda was taken up.
Sensing the absence of the ministers concerned in the house, the opposition members opted to raise some issues on the point of order.
Later, Deputy Speaker Anthony Naveed adjourned the house to Friday at 2:30pm.
Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2025
