KARACHI, May 29: Defending the decision of Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Rahila Tiwana, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has laid the blame for the proroguing of Tuesday’s session of the House at the doorstep of the opposition.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Sindh Local Government Minister Mohammad Hussain, who accompanied by Faisal Sabzwari and Shoaib Bokhari, said that the session was spoiled by the non-serious attitude of the opposition.

Putting forward his version of the events, he said when he rose from his seat to offer Fateha for the victims of the May 12 violence -- victims, he alleged, of PPP and Jamat-i-Islami ‘terrorists’ -- opposition member Dr Sharifunnisa Laghari passed an un-parliamentary remark by calling him a “ghunda.”

Despite repeated requests from the chair, she did not withdraw her remarks and later PPP member Rafique Engineer directly attacked the chair. Hence, this attitude of the opposition had resulted in disturbances in the house, he said.

Mr Hussain objected to the opposition members carrying anti-government placards into the House, especially since the governor has been striving to restore peace in the city. This, he said, showed that the opposition had come with a strategy to hold the House hostage and to foil the governor’s and the MQM’s efforts to restore peace.