KARACHI: A heated debate took place in the Sindh Assembly on Monday between Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Khawaja Izharul Hassan and Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon over recruitment in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), DawnNews reported.

Memon had claimed that in the past 'terrorists' had been recruited in the water board.

The statement caused MQM members to erupt in anger and engage in sloganeering during the assembly session.

Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani tried to pacify the opposing members of the House but to no avail as the ruckus continued even during the recess for Zuhr prayers and until provincial Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah stood up to address the assembly.

Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza presided over the day's session after the recess.

In his address, Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that political point-scoring was taking place over the Thar issue.

The Sindh chief minister further said that the provincial government is constantly providing assistance to the residents of Thar, and that Mithi is comparable to any other city of Sindh.

“Wheat worth Rs2 billion was provided to 1.6 million residents of Thar; it is not easy to feed 1.6 million people in a single sitting,” Shah added.

“We did every possible thing for Thar. Not even a single child died of hunger; rather they died of a disease. If anyone died of hunger, then name any single one of them,” the veteran PPP leader said.

Addressing the House, MQM leader Izharul Hassan said members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) were concerned over reports circulating in the media related to Thar. He moreover questioned if the media was lying on TV.

Utilising his discretionary powers as Speaker, Shah refused to have a debate on his speech and said that there should no unnecessary criticism over it.

Hassan said he only wanted to share a few historical phrases for the provincial chief minister and added that he respected Shah as he was a senior politician.

On October 19, the MQM had decided to quit the PPP-led Sindh government, only six months after having joined it.

The party had said it took the decision following Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s “persistent verbal attacks” on the MQM leadership, saying that PPP’s politics of “hatred and discrimination” had made it impossible for the party to remain in the Sindh government.

While parting ways, MQM also criticised PPP leader Khursheed Ahmed Shah’s statement that he considered Mohajir “a swear word”.

Also during the day, PPP’s Ghazala Siyal submitted a resolution in the House which sought to ensure protection from the deadly Ebola virus. The MQM also approved the resolution despite having reservations about it.

Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza ruled out a resolution submitted by a MQM MPA Mohammad Hussain over the Thar issue. She said that the issue had already been discussed by members of the House and there was no need for any further debate over it.