KARACHI, June 21: Leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has demanded suspension of Eshwar Lal, a ruling party MPA, for the ‘indecent conduct’ he resorted to during the Wednesday proceedings.

Almost the entire opposition was present at the press conference addressed by Mr Khuhro after the proceedings were adjourned for the day.

He said that the ugly scenes during the session had been prompted by Eshwar Lal’s act of sending an ‘indecent note’ to PPP MPA Ms Shazia Marri. He asked Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah to take punitive action against Eshwar Lal and suspend his membership.

Mr Khuhro said that the opposition would watch the speaker’s attitude in this case because he (Eshwar Lal) had been ‘ruthless’ against opposition members.

Giving details of the incident, Mr Khuhro said that the indecent note had upset Ms Marri, who showed it to him. It later transpired that the note had been sent by Mr Lal, he added.

Mr Khuhro said the other note, sent by MPA Poonjomal Bheel of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to another PPP member Shamim Ara Panhwar, contained the text asking Ms Marri to forgive Eshwar Lal for his ‘mistake’.

Nisar Khuhro said that when he discussed this matter with his colleagues, they got provoked and some of them went to Mr Lal, asking him to come out of the house. However, Mr Lal declined and a brief fist-fight broke out, he added.

Mr Khuhro said that honour and respect was dear to each and every member.

When his attention was drawn to Law Minister Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed’s remarks, backed by other ministers, calling for action against those who had physically assaulted a member on the floor of the house, Mr Khuhro said that instead of condemning the fist-fight, people should take note of the indecent conduct of the ruling party member.

He said that Nadir Akmal Leghari, Dr Saeeda Malik and Irfanullah Marwat, who had visited him after the incident, had expressed their desire to resolve the matter through a dialogue. “On their request, some opposition members went to the speaker’s chamber and apprised him of the incident, despite the fact that he (Mr Shah) had not taken appropriate action in similar incidents in the past.”

Mr Khuhro recalled the same member (Mr Lal) had earlier subjected PPP MPA Ms Sassui Palejo to similar treatment. MPA Kulsoom Nizamani also faced a similar situation, he added, and claimed the speaker had not taken any action in those incidents.

Referring to his colleagues’ meeting with the speaker, Mr Khuhro said that Mr Shah told them that had they brought the matter to his notice earlier, he would have suspended the member.

Meanwhile, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah has said that he has instituted an inquiry, to be conducted by the secretary of the assembly, into the whole affair. He stressed that instead of resorting to causing physical harm to the member, the members should have tried to resolve the matter through other means. He, however, promised action according to rules.