The BackBencher: New look for Sindh Assembly, but same old ugly mood

New potted plants graced steps, hall had new curtains, there was soft lighting but mood was anything but pleasant.


Saba Imtiaz March 13, 2012

KARACHI:


The Sindh Assembly sparkled on Monday. Rows of new potted plants graced the steps, the hall had new curtains in a rather lovely shade of mint green, there was soft lighting (perhaps the MPAs will not end up looking so wrinkly in photos now).


But the mood was anything but pleasant.

Indignation simmered on the floor, from the Pakistan Muslim League-F’s Nusrat Seher Abbasi, who was defiant as she told the house that she would not be scared by threatening text messages. She has been warned against pushing for any more resolutions opposing calls for a Mohajir province.

And while the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Humera Alwani normally chats up a storm – so much so that the speaker seems to spend all his time telling her to, “sit down, please sit down, sit down” - her face was blank as she listened to Muttahida Qaumi Movement parliamentary leader Sardar Ahmed tell the house that his party had not signed the anti-Mohajir province resolution because they weren’t told. Quite tellingly, Alwani did not thump her desk at Ahmed’s speech, given that last Friday she had told reporters she had asked the MQM to sign the resolution and received no response.

Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza attempted to end the discussion on the resolution and why the MQM didn’t sign it, when MQM MPA Heer Ismail Soho began to pipe up, looking to Sardar Ahmed to intervene:

“Sardar saheb…?”

He raised his hand in a dismissive gesture, but Soho continued to rant – her timbre growing more incensed by the syllable – as she pointed out that the MQM was not just a Karachi-based party.

Deputy Speaker Raza scored a point of her own, smilingly saying that while no one was claiming that the MQM was solely a party for Mohajirs, perhaps lawmakers should keep an eye on what’s happening in their own areas.

Question hour on Monday turned into a sparring match between Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah and National Peoples Party’s Arif Mustafa Jatoi. As the two debated gas surcharges and base salaries for government employees, some blown-up photographs became a source of fascination for a row of PPP MPAs.

Murad Ali Shah actually brought up an interesting point when looking at the questions sheet: technically, the MPAs are not supposed to ask questions whose answers are public knowledge. “This is in the budget books that are given to MPAs and are available in the Sindh Assembly library,” he said. “This question shouldn’t even have been forwarded by the secretariat.”

Be careful what you wish for, Mr Shah. Saleem Khursheed Khokhar offered up one of the gems of the year: “Is interest in business correct and should this happen in an Islamic country?” (Kya sood ka karobar karna jaiz hai Islami mulk mai?)

But not everyone felt as if they got their two cents during the session. Later, on Monday afternoon, MQM’s Khwaja Izharul Hassan complained on the micro-blogging website Twitter that Deputy Speaker Raza had not let him speak: “Deputy speaker warned if we raise any public importance issue, she will adjourn session & she did the same.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2012.

COMMENTS (4)

Basit |jaz | 12 years ago | Reply

Southern Punjab is a loosely defined region in Punjab Province that includes Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, and the Bahawalpur Civil Divisions. Compared to other parts of the province, Southern Punjab has underdeveloped communication networks, poor infrastructure, weak social services institutions, inadequate agricultural inputs, and large gaps in municipal services. Exclusion and social marginalization are widespread due to discrimination on the basis of caste, class, ethnicity, gender, and land ownership. Poverty is characterized by low income levels, a weak asset base, and barriers against efforts to reduce discrimination. Of 40 million people living below the poverty line in Pakistan, an estimated 10 million are in Southern Punjab, with poverty levels between 48 and 64 percent in the poorest four districts, far above the average for Northern or Western Punjab. http://pakistanexaminer.com/?p=8651

asif bawany | 12 years ago | Reply

The urdu,gujrati,memoni speaking community of sindh have faced discrimination for far too long.We've been treated as second class citizens,our loyalty has always been questioned.the quota system further pushed us to the walls.now,that new provinces are being made and ppp is at the forefront of this new provinces effort,than a new Muhajir province in karachi and Hyderabad must also be made.if punjab and KPK are being divided,then so must sindh be divided.

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