Lawmakers call for railways minister’s resignation, impartial inquiry

Sindh Assembly takes exception to train inferno victims' bodies being transported in a truck

KARACHI: Lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly on Friday, while condemning the Tezgam Express inferno in Rahim Yar Khan that claimed the lives of 74 passengers, demanded the resignation of the federal railways minister, Shaikh Rashid.

Speaking on the matter both inside and outside the assembly hall, MPAs belonging to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) asked the federal government to conduct an impartial inquiry and provide relief to the victims' families.

"Around 40 people who were burnt to death or have gone missing in the wake of this incident belong to Sindh," said PPP MPA Zulfiqar Shah, raising the issue on a point of order.  He lashed out at the Punjab government and railways authorities for shifting the bodies in trucks, rather than sending them in ambulances. "Every other day, PTI MPAs talk against the Sindh government's policies," said Shah. "We are far better than Punjab when it comes to the health sector. We never ever transport victims in trucks as they have done with the people of Sindh," he remarked.

In Pictures: Tezgam train inferno

Referring to the opposition leader, Firdous Shamim Naqvi and PTI's parliamentary leader Haleem Adil Shaikh's condolence visit to Mirpurkhas, Shah said, "People have welcomed them with rotten eggs and tomatoes. This all happened when they started defending the railways minister."

Incensed by his remarks, PTI MPAs stood up from their seats and started to protest. Meanwhile, Shah, who also belongs to the Mirpurkhas division, demanded the Sindh government to announce compensation for the victims.

Earlier, PPP's Heer Ismail Sohu also took exception to the negligence of the railways authorities and the Punjab government for transporting the bodies in a truck. "A video has gone viral that shows government officials transporting the bodies on a truck. We have a tradition in Pakistan to respect the dead. It looks like they were loading the truck with onions and potatoes," she said while demanding an impartial inquiry to punish those who showed a lack of respect in this case. "This was the 70th incident since the PTI government has come into power," said Sohu. "This will continue until Sheikh Rashid holds the portfolio of the department," she added.

GDA's Nand Kumar Goklani and Mohammad Hussain of the MQM-P also spoke on the issue. "We should not rule out a conspiracy hatched by anti-state elements," said Goklani. The members also offered Fateha for the victims and observed a minute's silence in their memory.

Licences for disabled persons

The Sindh Assembly introduced three different laws, including the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and Sindh Charities Registration and Regulation Bill, 2019, on Friday.  All the bills were referred to the standing committees for feedback.

Tezgam train inferno death toll reaches 74

In the motor vehicle law, an amendment has been proposed to grant driving licences to hearing-impaired persons. "Applicants with hearing impairment, having up to 40 decibels (a unit used to measure the intensity of a sound) loss, shall wear hearing aids and in case the hearing loss exceeds the decibels, the applicant shall use sensitive technology devices," the law states.

Adjournment motion on absconders

The Sindh Assembly rejected PTI MPA Khurrum Sher Zaman's adjournment motion to discuss a large number of absconders living in Sindh.  "There are around 57,000 absconders in Sindh. I want to know what efforts are being taken by the PPP government for their arrest," he said.

The deputy speaker asked Zaman to convince the house on whether his adjournment motion was in line with the rules or not. Zaman tried to do so, but the Sindh government opposed the motion, paving the way for the deputy speaker to dismiss it.

Earlier, as the session started with speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in the chair, the minister for parliamentary affairs, Mukesh Kumar Chawla, responded to questions related to the information technology (IT) department.

PTI MPA Saeed Afridi also tabled a resolution against the "Azadi March" organised by JUI-F leader Fazul Rehman.  "We are in a war-like situation following the Indian government's efforts to occupied Kashmir Valley. This march is against parliamentary democracy and it seems to be a conspiracy against Pakistan," states the resolution, which could not be taken up in the house. Later, the speaker adjourned the session till Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2019.