KARACHI, July 28: Proceedings of the City Council, Karachi, on Wednesday were marred by an uproar stirred by some remarks against Orangi Town Nazim Shahid Alam alias Guddu Bihari which were attributed to City Nazim Naimatullah Khan.

The remarks were indirectly quoted by a member, Siddique Rathore, and offended members of Al-Khidmat and Awam Dost panels. Mr Rathore had told the house: "While I was exchanging views with Naib City Nazim Tariq Hasan about supporting Guddu Bihari, he (Mr Hasan) quoted Naimatullah Khan as saying that how could he (Mr Khan) favour a criminal and smuggler."

Rejecting Mr Rathore's claim, members of the Al-Khidmat and Awam Dost panels rose from their seats and asked him to withdraw his statement. They strongly protested over, what they believed, wrongly attributing remarks to the city nazim.

Terming Mr Rathore's claim 'baseless' and 'not based on truth' the angry members continued talking loudly at a time creating a tense atmosphere in the house. However, Mr Rathore insisted that he did not lie, saying that he still stood by his claim. "I have quoted Tariq Hasan exactly what he had told me," he insisted.

Mr Hasan, who was chairing the session at that time, did not utter any word on the matter. However, Muslim Pervaiz, presiding officer of the Council, responded to Mr Rathore's claim said: "The quoted statement is not based on truth because the city nazim has publicly announced that Guddu Bihari is the legitimate nazim of Orangi Town."

"The City Nazim had talked to Governor and Chief Minister and sought their intervention into the matter," he told the house, insisting that Mr Naimatullah Khan had never given such a statement.

The offended members staged a walkout when Mr Rathore stood up again and started speaking on the same issue. Following the walkout, a member pointed out that the house lacked quorum. Accordingly, the convener adjourned the session.

Earlier, Mr Tariq Hasan in his bid to restore order, asked all the members to avoid personal remarks and speak on real issues. He said that the members should help him run the business of the house smoothly.

Most of the time, the members focused on the issue of Mr Guddu Bihari's rearrest, criticizing the provincial government for, what they claimed, implicating him in false cases. -PPI