KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday witnessed an unusual showdown when senior PPP lawmaker and Public Accounts Committee Chairman Nisar Ahmed Khuhro broke ranks and staged a walkout after a resolution honouring those killed on May 12, 2007 was presented out of order by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MPA, moments before it was rejected by the speaker.

As the day’s agenda concluded, Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah allowed PTI parliamentary party leader Shabbir Qureshi to present his resolution.

Paying tribute to those killed on May 12, Qureshi said all pro-democracy parties had taken out rallies that day, but innocent people were brutally killed.

The speaker then gave the floor to Mutahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) member Taha Ahmed, who condemned the violence and said the party workers were also killed on May 12.

Sindh PA unanimously passes resolution against honour killings

Without naming PTI, he remarked that those now raising their voice over May 12 were the same people accused in the May 9 incidents.

However, the speaker rejected the resolution, declaring it ‘out of order’.

When given the floor, Khuhro told the speaker that the resolution had been taken out of turn. “I wanted to speak, but you rejected the resolution,” he said before walking out in protest.

‘There should be no jirgas in karo-kari cases’

The assembly also unanimously adopted a resolution against honour killings, tabled by MQM-P member Bilqees Mukhtar, demanding justice for Rubina Chandio’s killers.

Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho backed the resolution and questioned why jirgas persisted in Sindh. “There should be no jirgas in karo-kari cases,” she said.

The health minister said that the victim had married by choice, a right Islam upholds. “This was not an honour killing, it was a killing of dishonour,” she added.

Women Development Minister Shaheena Sher Ali informed the house that two girls had been rescued from Tando Allahyar and Khairpur, and arrests had been made in Chandio’s murder.

JI member Muhammad Farooq urged a law mandating public execution for those involved in such crimes.

Law Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said the country’s legal framework was in place and action was swift, adding that 20 people had been arrested in the Rubina Chandio case and all were in jail. “It’s shameful, but such incidents have been taking place for centuries,” he said.

Resolution against child labour rejected

The house rejected MQM-P member Amir Siddiqui’s resolution on child labour in Karachi.

Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro said that relevant laws already existed and members should contact Labour Minister Saeed Ghani with specific complaints.

During the Question Hour, the health minister said Sindh had thousands of unconfirmed malaria cases, though death reporting remained questionable.

“Hospitals are placed on high alert during monsoon, and anti-dengue spraying will be carried out across the province, but households must also take precautions,” she added.

She pointed to ongoing construction in Karachi, where stagnant water was fueling mosquito breeding and dengue spread.

The session was later adjourned until Friday.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2026