Skewed priorities?: JUI-F refocuses on women at Azadi march

Party hits refresh button on objections about dancing in Islamabad.

PESHAWAR:

The morality of it all boils down to the women. Or so it seems when seasoned politicians dress down the leader of a protest for “making the daughters of the nation dance in front of his container”.

Members of opposition and treasury benches in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly nearly came to blows after the comments from Opposition Leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl.

Some of the lawmakers looked ready for a free-for-all. However, other MPAs and sergeant-at-arms prevented the situation from taking an uglier turn, prompting Speaker Asad Qaiser to adjourn the session till November 10.

Blow-by-blow account

The fracas was triggered when the assembly started discussing two adjournment motions on the prevailing political situation in the country and law and order in the province. Rehman brought up the topic after the break for evening prayers.

The JUI-F MPA questioned if why Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan does not attend Parliament if he was so serious about democracy. Rehman alleged the K-P government vehicles were being used for PTI’s dharna in Islamabad.

However, it was his comment on Imran encouraging women to partake in dharna activities which triggered the unsightly ruckus.

The women who were members of PTI stood up on their benches in protest and demanded the opposition leader to retract his statement. However, Rehman refused saying, “PTI lawmakers should have the courage to listen to me just as the entire nation has been listening to them for the past two months.”

As the session spiralled of control, only slogans of ‘Go Imran Go’, ‘Go Nawaz Go’ and ‘Go Diesel Go’, among others, were clearly audible.

Before Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman, PTI MPA Fazl Elhai and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MPA Wali Mohammad Khan could throw in their punches, security and other lawmakers intervened.

The session was then adjourned by Qaiser.

Honouring Malala

Awami National Party lawmaker Syed Jaffer Shah told The Express Tribune on Thursday a resolution lauding Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has been admitted by the Assembly Secretariat. It will be supported by the opposition, he said.

On Thursday, PPP MPA Nighat Orakzai raised this issue yet again on a point of order. Though Qaiser tried to dissuade her, Orakzai insisted and took it up after the day’s agenda was completed.

When a resolution lauding Malala was brought up earlier this week, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) MPA Mohamamd Ali linked it with passing one in support of Dr Afia Siddiqi, which the house unanimously passed on Wednesday. JI MPA Malik Behram Khan told The Express Tribune his party not made a decision as yet.

Resolutions

Before the fight, the house learnt 290 completed schemes for drinking water could not be utilized due to delays by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in installing transformers.

Responding to a resolution by PPP leader Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha, Farman said the schemes were delayed because of no power supply. “If a water supply scheme remains unused for a long period, its pipes collect rust, rendering it useless,” he added. He blamed Wapda for political victimisation on this count.

The assembly also passed resolutions to declare the province “war-affected”, to resume flights to Saidu Airport, and on compensation for lands for Hazara Expressway.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2014.