KARACHI: Lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly on Monday raised urgent concerns over killings in the name of so-called honour in the province, with the law and parliamentary affairs minister calling for both provincial and federal legislation to eradicate the heinous practice.

Responding to a point of order raised by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) member Adil Askari over karo-kari in the upper part of the province, Sindh Law Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar said that the issue existed across the country, including Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and emphasised that the state must take action to eliminate it.

Referring to the killing of Rubina Chandio, he said there was no room for honour killing in Islam and called for nationwide legislation to end the practice.

He noted that such incidents were also concealed in “influential homes” and stressed that the state must act. “The Sindh government is ready for legislation,” he said, proposing a joint adjournment motion for the assembly to debate on the issue.

Minister Lanjar says ‘practice’ persists across country; calls for coordinated legislation

Earlier, MQM-P’s Askari protested that his adjournment motion on the issue had not been included in the assembly agenda.

Deputy Speaker Anthony Naveed instructed the assembly secretary to inform the member in writing of the reasons why his motion was not included.

Later, speaking on his point of order, he pointed out that Upper Sindh recorded the highest number of karo-kari cases compared to KP, Punjab and Balochistan.

MQM-P’s Qurat-ul-Ain Khan, in her call attention notice, asked the government what steps were being taken in view of the ongoing heatwave across the province.

She also highlighted 12 to 15 hours of unannounced loadshedding during the extreme sizzling weather and said those in air-conditioned rooms did not know what the heat actually felt like.

Responding to the notice, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said heatwave camps had been established across the province.

As for the power outages in the province, he accused MQM-P of never raising the issue of loadshedding in the federal cabinet or the National Assembly despite being in the federal government.

He said there were 18 to 22 hours of loadshedding in parts of the province and termed the outages “unconstitutional and collective punishment” by Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) and K-Electric.

Jamaat-i-Islami member Muhammad Farooq, in his call attention notice, said that there were piles of garbage everywhere in Shah Faisal Colony and demanded that towns be included in garbage collection operations.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2026