LAHORE, Nov 17: Several senior members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs) paid glowing tributes to the late Sardar Shaukat Husain Mazari and sought attributing some parts of the assembly building to the late MPA and displaying his portrait at some prominent place.
Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhud Ahmad Khan assured the house that a decision on the subject would be taken before adjourning the proceedings for Tuesday (today).
However, the promise was not materialised as the proceedings were put off for Tuesday immediately after the house unanimously passed a resolution condoling the demise of Mr Mazari and acknowledging his fair conduct in chairing sittings of the house.
Mr Mazari breathed his last after suffering a heart attack during proceedings of the house on Friday.
Immediately after proceedings of the house began, with usual delay of over an hour, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan requested the chair to suspend rules of procedure to allow tabling of the resolution. The chair sanctioned the move and invited the members to share their memories about Mr Mazari.
Opposition Leader Chaudhry Zaheeruddin said the late Mazari had a record of being the longest serving deputy speaker of the house. A veteran politician, he always stood for the cause of the neglected farmers while giving rulings as custodian of the house despite opposition from the treasury.
He said Mr Mazari was always nominated as a mediator for reconciliation with estranged party members. Adviser to the chief minister Sirdar Zulfikar Khosa endorsed the suggestion of displaying Mazari’s portrait at some prominent place.
He said that Sardar Mazari thrice, out of his four electoral victories, was in the opponent camp but the late would never give any gesture of a rival.
Khosa also recalled that despite being unwell, the Mazari fully participated in providing relief to the flood victims of Rajanpur district.
Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood said that he had the honour of being a neighbour of the late parliamentarian highly popular among his constituents due to his inherent love for the deprived and underprivileged.
He said Mr Mazari did not need ticket of any party for returning to the assembly as his personal popularity was enough for the task.
Dr Tahir Ali Javed said as a doctor he would always be afraid of his health seeing his emotions especially when any issue relating to farmers and rural population was under discussion.
Asifa Farooqi suggested that the door through which the body of the late was taken out of the house should be attributed as Mazari Gate.
Prisons Minister Abdul Ghafoor, Azma Zahid Bukhari, Rana Afzal, Muhammad Sanaullah Khan, Amna Ulfat and Col Shujaa (retired) also spoke.
Earlier, Quran Khwani was held for the departed soul by the Assembly Secretariat in which all officers and officials of the secretariat participated. Dua was offered for Mr Mazari, Sardar Hasan Akhtar Moakkal and Manzoor Husain Mohal, all three former deputy speakers of the house.
Following is the text of the resolution:
This esteemed house and all the employees of the Punjab Assembly Secretariat express their profound grief and sorrow at the demise of Sardar Shaukat Hussain Mazari, MPA and former deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly, and term his death an irreparable loss and a big gap which will never be abridged for centuries to come.
The late was a noble and sincere man, and a seasoned parliamentarian who always advocated the politics of principles; strived for strengthening of democracy; believed in public service; thought of Pakistan and was a popular personality of his area.
The late (Shaukat Husain Mazari) was born on Feb 10, 1948, in Rojhan, Rajanpur district, to Sardar Muhammad Husain Mazari, then a renowned parliamentarian.He received primary education from Sadiq Public School, Bahawalpur, and graduated from Government College Lahore. As a student, he had been president of Pakistan Student Association in the Blake Burn College of Technology & Design, UK.