KARACHI, May 18: The Pakistan People’s Party on Wednesday requisitioned the Sindh Assembly session to discuss its eight-point agenda. Opposition leader in the assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro informed newsmen that 45 members had signed the requisition to deliberate upon victimization of political workers and elected representatives, journalists and rights activists, government’s callous attitude towards the National Finance Commission Award, rising graph of unemployment, corruption and grave injustice to human rights.
He said that the PPP had also requisitioned the session earlier but the government had bulldozed the attempt by summoning its own session. That was a clear indication of the regime’s policy of undermining the efforts aimed at getting real issues, confronting the people of Sindh, discussed on the floor of the house, he claimed.
Mr Khuhro, who was accompanied by MPAs Makhdoom Jameeluz Zaman, Dr Sikandar Mandro, Mir Mohammad Hassan Khan Talpur, Shazia Marri, Dr Mahreen Bhutto, Nasreen Chandio, Shamim Ara Panwhar and Rafiq engineer, said the fresh requisition would be yet another test of the government’s sincerity and commitment with the cause of Sindh and its rights.
Through this requisition, the PPP hopes that the house will take, what it believes, the dismal performance of various provincial departments.
Speaker Syed Mzaffar Hussain Shah, according to rules, was obliged to summon the session within 14 days. Mr Khuhro pointed out that this was the second requisition this year. He regretted that in order to scuttle the opposition agenda and to avoid discussion on the real issues, the government had summoned the assembly session after the PPP had submitted its requisition.
Together with the requisition, the opposition members have also submitted a number of adjournment motions so that even if the government decided to circumvent its requisition agenda, the issues could be agitated.
The PPP is also pushing for a debate on sealing off the Sindh-Punjab border by the Sindh police on April 14 and 15 to prevent thousands of political workers, vehicles and general public from entering Punjab. It contends that the move was a clear violation of human rights as well as the rights guaranteed under the constitution.
Mr Khuhro said that the atrocities on political activists, journalists and human rights activists during the mid-April events, and subsequent statements by the government had exposed the regime’s so-called enlightened moderation. Despite being subjected to this treatment, he added, the PPP stood resolved to fulfil its responsibility by echoing people’s concern.
He slammed the government for not allowing the opposition to move a resolution in the just concluded assembly session to condemn police brutalities in Lahore.
He claimed that the government was practising double standards of the right-wing extremists. He pointed out that Punjab government had recently held an international marathon in Lahore which was participated by both men and women. However, when the HRCP tried to hold a similar marathon in that province to highlight the growing incidents of violence against women in Pakistan and promote the ‘enlightened moderation’ in society, former Senator Iqbal Haider was manhandled by the police.
The police attitude towards women activists, particularly the HRCP Chairperson, Ms Asma Jehangir, who was subjected to grave indignities, was a matter of grave concern for all democratic forces and those who were striving for civilized norms, supremacy of parliament and rule of law.
The PPP has maintained that corruption in all government departments has increased considerably, and has called for an inquiry into the abuse of public offices, as was done in the case of the former revenue minister.
Through an adjournment motion, the opposition has also sought discussion on the performance of education department which, it says, has failed to show satisfactory results in terms of achieving its goal of increased literacy in Sindh.
The opposition agenda also includes items pertaining to the growing menace of narcotics and gutka.
The PPP has also insisted on a debate on the government’s alleged failure to provide employment opportunities to the people of Sindh which, it believes, has led to an increased in suicide rate.
Mr Khuhro criticized the government’s attitude towards those minority community members who were supporting the opposition. In this context, he referred to the arrest of Mohan Lal Meghwar, a UC nazim in Tharparker, and accused Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim of victimizing minority communities in that area.