KARACHI, June 28: Leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro on Wednesday described the FIR lodged against him and four other opposition members by Ishwar Lal as an afterthought and a tool of harassing the voice of dissent.

Terming the FIR defective, Mr Khuhro said it was lodged one week after the incident. Besides, he said that it was against the rules which stated that no such action could be taken against an assembly member without the permission of the speaker. He pointed out that the speaker’s ruling did not include his name nor it said anything about the FIR.

Mr Khuhro reiterated his earlier stand against the speaker’s ruling and maintained that for upholding honour and dignity of members he and his members were not afraid of such threats being made at the behest of those who used abusive language against lady members and the opposition.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Executive of the PPP condemned the coercive measures of the government and urged the chief justice to take suo motu action against the violation of speaker’s order and trampling with the sanctity of the assembly by lodging an FIR.

Addressing a news conference, Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that the meeting reviewed the FIR, implicating leader of the opposition and the chief minister’s derogatory remarks against the lady MPAs.

The PPP’s Karachi Coordination Committee also condemned the registration of “bogus cases against five MPAs of the party at the behest of Sindh Chief Minister”.

The KCC meeting was presided over by former chief minister and KCC head Aftab Shahban Mirani at Bilawal House.

The committee condemned the gender-biased statement of Arbab Ghulam Rahim. “These statements churning out gender discrimination against women expose the medieval thinking of the chief minister of this so-called regime of enlightened moderation.”

The meeting decided that such acts of vengeance and gender bias would be resisted politically and legally as the PPP had a long and unmatched record of bravely facing brutal dictatorial regimes.

Later, Syed Qaim Ali Shah also expressed concern over government’s dubious plan to rig coming elections because he claimed that there were two electoral lists still in circulation. He urged the Election Commission to ensure the discrepancy. He also referred to problems with regard to the upcoming elections in Kashmir and expressed concern over possible rigging to subvert the will of the Kashmiris located in Karachi and other parts of Sindh.