Open manholes create uproar in PA

Politics on gutter dominated the Sindh Assembly once again on Tuesday as opposition lawmakers brought in manhole covers, protesting the recent death of a toddler in Garden West area.

The house witnessed a pandemonium when lawmakers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi MovementPakistan (MQM-P) were denied discussion on two-and-a-half-year-old Hamza, who fell to his death in an open manhole near Fatima Jinnah College within the remits of Garden Police Station on Monday.

The treasury benches wished to move a resolution to pay tribute to Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai on his 278th death anniversary instead. At the outset of the session, PTI lawmaker Khurran Sher Zaman raised a point of order wanting to spend some discussion time on Hamza's death but Deputy Speaker Rehana Laghari denied his request.

"I cannot allow you to speak at this time. Let me take up other things first," said Laghari. Her remarks prompted the MQM-P and PTI lawmakers to climb atop their seats in protest.

Irked, the deputy speaker directed her staff to switch off the mikes for the opposition benches. The protesting lawmakers hurled a tirade against the Sindh government for neglecting citizens' safety and failing to cover manholes, turning them into 'death traps'.

"How do you govern the province? Your incompetence can be gauged from the fact that you can't even cover manholes! The city's children are not orphans, we will plead their case," shouted a charged PTI lawmaker, Saeed Afridi.

Read More: Child falls in open manhole, dies

Ignoring the protest, Laghari gave the floor to Sindh Education and Culture Minister Syed Sardar Shah and the minister moved a resolution to pay tribute to Bhitai on his Urs.

This further spurred on the protest with opposition lawmakers shouting slogans against the treasury benches. "The role of the speaker must be neutral. [But] you are giving the treasury members priority over the opposition," levelled Zaman.

Seconding him, MQM-P 's Muhammad Hussain recalled a recent meeting between opposition lawmakers and Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, where he said, "it was decided that opposition members would be given the chance to speak on points of order during the session".

The opposition must be given time to speak on a matter of public interest, insisted Hussain. "It was decided to give the floor only to the opposition leader on an important issue," fired back Sindh Parliamentary Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla, referring to the same meeting.

Yet waiting for his turn to speak on the resolution for Bhittai, the culture minister termed the protesting lawmakers as against Sufi culture and tradition. "They are not allowing me to pay tribute to the great Sufi saint and poet Bhitai. Please arrange a training to teach them the rules of assembly madame [Laghari]."

The speaker has the authority to bulldoze all proceedings and take up any issue, said Shah. "They are giving priority to gutter politics [over the] resolution I'm moving here," he lamented.

Justifying his protest, Hussain rejected Shah's assertion and reminded the house that his party moved a resolution on the occasion of the revered Sufi saint's Urs each year.

"We also want to speak and move a resolution on Bhittai. He is a poet of international acclaim," said Hussain. "We expressed our concern on the deputy speaker's conduct, on not allowing lawmakers to speak on a public interest issue."

Later, three lawmakers from the treasure and opposition benches, namely Pakistan Peoples Party's Shah, PTI's Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Grand Democratic Alliance's Nand Kumar Goklani moved a joint resolution to pay tribute to Bhitai.

The late Sufi poet was a beacon of enlightenment, peace and patriotism, they maintained. "The virtue of peace, patriotism and love in his poetry make him the greatest advocate of harmony and social tranquility.

He not only prayed for the prosperity and stability of Sindh, but also for the well-being of [the] whole [of] mankind," read the resolution. After the speeches on the resolution, the deputy speaker adjourned the session till Friday.