KARACHI: A protest by opposition lawmakers from Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) over the recent detention of their leaders and workers disrupted proceedings of the Sindh Assembly on Monday, forcing the chair to adjourn the session amid disorder.
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The opposition members raised slogans and protested against the brief detention of JI’s Muhammad Farooq, PTI’s Wajid Ali, and several others held under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance. The protest led to a heated exchange between opposition lawmakers and the chair, which was initially presided over by Rehana Leghari, a member of the panel of chairmen.
The session began with prayers for the martyrs of the Islamabad incident, but the atmosphere quickly turned tense when a JI lawmaker sought permission to raise a point of order regarding his detention. The chair, however, proceeded with Question Hour, telling the member he would be given time after the scheduled agenda.
As the lawmaker insisted on speaking, he left his seat and stood in front of the podium despite being denied permission. Amid the commotion, Universities and Boards Minister Ismail Rahoo continued responding to written and supplementary questions.
Speaker Awais Qadir Shah later took the chair and urged the protesting member to return to his seat, assuring him that he would be allowed to speak after Question Hour. Following this, Law Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar presented audit reports of the Sindh AIDS Control Programme and the Council of Islamic Ideology, which were referred to the Public Accounts Committee.
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Later, PTI’s Wajid Ali was given the floor and alleged that he was detained and tortured by police when he went to inquire about the arrest of party workers. Continued protests by opposition members led the speaker to adjourn the house without completing the listed agenda until Tuesday.