In ‘taxing’ Sindh Assembly session, MPAs provide the entertainment

KARACHI:

“You’re like a child studying in Class I!” railed MPA Rafique Engineer. “Why are you screaming?” Hell truly hath no fury like an MPA scorned, as the woman, who was on the receiving end of the tirade, Nusrat Abbasi, demanded to know why she was being spoken to in this way - accused of screaming when she was trying to bring up an important issue relevant to women’s rights.

Abbasi was trying to present a motion on karo-kari killings and the legalities associated with charging the accused, but Engineer’s outburst derailed the discussion as the women MPAs leapt to their feet to criticise him. Pir Mazharul Haq and Sardar Ahmed attempted to defuse the situation with Haq apologising to Abbasi, as the two explained the law related to murder offences. But Abbasi only seemed slightly mollified. After a long discussion on the resolution’s text, Engineer didn’t help his case by yelling ‘Yes!’ when Abbasi read out the words, “we request the federal government”.

MPA Arif Mustafa Jatoi didn’t have much reason to jump for joy either. His move to amend the Sindh Assembly members’ privileges bill was shot down. It was rather incomprehensible, given that Jatoi was merely trying to legalise ‘MPA’ signs on cars. But even if it is illegal, the police are hardly going to ever censure anyone found breaking the rule. Information Minister Shazia Marri told reporters after the session that Jatoi should have consulted the MPAs before presenting the amendment.

The MPAs were in a better mood at the start of the day’s proceedings. As they stared at the printed answers for the questions they had put forth to the excise and taxation department, they must have found themselves wondering - and many voiced this aloud – why there was a rather remarkable similarity in the amount of drugs seized and people arrested in raids in Mirpurkhas and Larkana.

While the excise and taxation minister, Mukesh Chawla, said he had presented the facts, the MPAs kept pointing out the oddity.

There were sniggers and an offhand comment or two during Q&A hour. “What does he mean when he says illegal liquor?” said Saleem Khokhar. “Is alcohol sold in every shop in Pakistan?”

The conversation also briefly turned to cinemas and tax exemptions, an issue that MPAs said required clarification as it emerged that there was no legislation on exempting cinemas from an entertainment tax. This prompted MPA Humera Alwani to say that cinemas not only showed “objectionable films” but were charging exorbitant amounts for tickets - up to Rs1,500. “I’ve seen a film in a cinema for Rs500, but never for Rs1,500!” Chawla retorted.

MPA Jam Tamachi Unar had another dilemma on his mind. “Is entertainment tax charged on bear fights and dog fights too?”

And speaking of entertainment, Marri informed the assembly that MPA Nadir Magsi was to be congratulated for winning the Jhal Magsi car race. However, no one could congratulate the driver in person as he had only made a short appearance at the house before disappearing.

Pir Mazharul Haq was also spotted using his iPad in the assembly again although this time he appeared to be reading a rather wordy document. There’s no entertainment tax on that, but MPAs could have easily charged reporters for the rather hilarious proceedings.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2011.