KARACHI, Dec 27: The Sindh Assembly on Monday admitted opposition's identical adjournment motions on the killing of four persons during a protest in Qambar against the creation of new districts.

The matter was fixed for discussion on Wednesday. There was no opposition from the treasury benches to the move.

When the proceedings commenced, opposition members deplored the killing and as a mark of protest, wore black arm-bands. Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah was in the chair.

The adjournment motions were moved by Leader of the Opposition Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Ghulam Mujtaba Isran and Sassui Palejo of the PPP; and Hamidullah Khan and Nasrullah Shaji of the MMA.

After offering fateha for those killed in the Qambar incident, and also for those perished in Sunday's Indian Ocean tsunami, Mr Khuhro sought the speaker's permission to move the adjournment motion which, he claimed, had been submitted with the speaker's secretariat before the commencement of the Monday session.

Mr Khuhro insisted on moving the motion out of turn because of the gravity of the situation. The speaker asked him to seek permission of the house for the relaxation of rules with regard to the five identical adjournment motions to be taken up out of turn.

Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed opposed Mr Khuhro's plea, saying that the issue of admissibility could be taken up only after the question hour. However, when opposition leader suggested that the discussion on the motion could be fixed for some time later, the minister agreed to let him move the motion for admissibility. It was not opposed by the treasury benches.

Revenue Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh described the Qambar incident as an unfortunate one, and pointed out that the government had initiated immediate measure and the chief minister had issued directives for immediate relief to the affected people. He said that the chief minister had also pledged appropriate action against those found guilty.

Earlier, Mr Khuhro criticized police for killing four innocent persons in Qambar and termed it 'a brutal action by police'. He said there was no crossfire and police had killed the four persons in direct firing at the protesters who were raising their voice against the government's decision about creation of a new district.

Syed Sardar Ahmed maintained that there was another version of the story and the government wanted to collect all facts before a discussion on the issue on the floor of the house.

Later, talking to newsmen in his chamber, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro alleged that Mr Shah was trying to avoid any discussion on the important issue of killings in Qambar. As the session started, at around mid-day, a large number of women teachers belonging to Hyderabad staged a protest demonstration in front of the assembly building against their 'forced retrenchment'.

They maintained that they had been recruited in 1995 and sacked without any valid reason. They also pointed out that they had been asked by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) to submit their documents for a review of their cases.