PHOTO: ONLINE
The lawmakers rejected the varsity's three category — K, S and P — 'contradictory' admission policy wherein preference is given to students of Karachi, Sindh and Pakistan, in that order. Demanding the Sindh government take immediate measures to end the policy, the lawmakers suggested that equal opportunity be provided to all the students of the province.
"This is a discriminatory policy and we demand to follow merit in admissions," said PPP's Khairunnisa Mughal, while moving the out-of-order resolution, adding that more than 21,000 students are enrolled in KU and around 12,000 get admitted every year. She deplored that only 34 seats are reserved for students from other districts of Sindh.
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Mehtab Akbar Rashdi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) also supported the resolution and, on behalf of her party, rejected the existing policy and demanded equal opportunity to deserving students from other districts.
MQM's walkout
Earlier, the MQM staged a walkout when deputy speaker Shehla Raza did not allow them to move a private bill pertaining to increasing powers of the Karachi mayor. The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (Amendment) Bill 2015 was tabled by Syed Khalid Ahmed to appoint mayor of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation as the KWSB chairperson. Currently, the local government minister heads the utility.
Senior minister for education and parliamentary affairs, Nisar Khuhro, said the mayor has been given powers in the Local Government Act 2013 and these powers will neither be slashed nor enhanced.
The MQM members, who had brought placards with them, started shouting slogans. The deputy speaker responded by asking the MPAs to "go outside and protest", which they did, and did not return after.
Before that, MQM's Mohammad Hussain moved an adjournment motion and requested the speaker adjourn the proceedings and discuss the 'important' matter of Urdu-speaking (Mohajir) government officers in Sindh being removed from their posts.
He gave the example of the recently transferred Karachi commissioner Shoaib Siddiqui. "All important positions in the provincial bureaucracy have been given to non-Mohajirs," he claimed.
Opposing his adjournment motion, Khuhro said "There is no Mohajir in the province," adding that many Urdu-speaking bureaucrats work in the provincial setup and no discrimination has been meted out to them. "Siddiqui's transfer was a routine matter as he has been promoted to grade-22," he said.
Hindu girls kidnapping case
PML-Nawaz MPA Sorath Thebo revealed the alleged kidnapping of three Hindu girls in Umerkot district, saying the 10-, 11- and 15-year-olds belong to the Bhel community. "Some influential people have forcibly converted these minor girls [to Islam]," she said.
PPP's Sardar Shan said the incident occurred in his constituency and FIRs have been registered against 10 people. "Five of them have been arrested, but police have not yet recovered the girls," he said, adding that one of the girls has reportedly been converted. "We assure this House that the victim's family will be provided justice," he said.
Nand Kumar of PML-F said kidnapping and conversion of Hindu women are contributing factors behind the migration of Hindus from Sindh. "If this victimisation does not stop then Hindu will leave their homeland of Sindh," he said.
Forest department
During the question -answer session, forests minister Gyan Chand Essarani confessed that around 108,569 acres of forest land has been occupied by politicians, landlords and other influential persons. "The land has been occupied since 1985 and with the help of police and Rangers we have vacated around 17,000 acres," he said.
Later, the deputy speaker adjourned the session till Wednesday and fixed the day for debate on deaths in Thar.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2016.
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