He said, she said: Pandemonium in the house

Pitafi claimed that one of the main accused in the kidnapping incident was from PML-F.

KARACHI:

The last speech delivered by PPP MPA Sardar Ahmed Pitafi caused pandemonium in the house and members from the treasury and opposition (PML-F) exchanged heated arguments, using abusive language against each other. The situation grew tense when Sardar Pitafi suggested the PML-F leaders to stop point-scoring on the issue as local leaders of the Pir Pagara's party were involved in the kidnapping of Anjali. Pitafi claimed that one of the main accused in the kidnapping incident was a party ticket-holder of the PML-F in the last general elections.

This irked the PML-F lawmakers, who asked Pitafi to avoid mentioning the name of Pir Pagara.  Though the speaker ordered to expunge the word from the proceedings, the PML-F and PPP leaders continued the altercation.

PML-F's Nand Kumar remarked that Sardar Ahmed Pitafi's son was involved in the killings of Hindu traders of Umerkot.  The PPP MPAs, especially Pitafi, reacted strongly to this.  The opposition leader Shaharyar Mahar urged Pitafi to take his seat. "It looks like a girl belonging to the Pitafi family has been kidnapped."  After these remarks, members from both the parties started hurling insults at each other, which forced Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani to adjourn the session till Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2014.