KARACHI: Opposition boycotted the budget session of Sindh Assembly after Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) member was not allowed to talk about worsening law and order situation in Karachi. Legislatures of Muttahida Quami Movement- Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) boycotted budget session after MQM lawmaker, Kanwar Naveed was not allowed to highlight increasing children abduction and worsening of law and order situation in Karachi. Session of Sindh Assembly began under the chair of Speaker, Agha Siraj Durrani. The session was convened to discuss the budget recommendations proposed by Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah. During the session MQM-P lawmaker Kanwar Naveed tried to speak on the issues of rising street crime and child abduction cases in the metropolis. However, Agha Siraj Durrani did not allow the opposition member to discuss these issues. “I cannot allow any member to talk on point of order during budget session,” cautioned the speaker. On this MQM-P walked out of the assembly to protest against the behavior of the speaker. According to MQM-P lawmakers, huge amounts of money had been allocated to control the law and order situation in Karachi but the citizens were still unsafe. Later on, PTI leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi also tried to speak in house without taking permission of the speaker but he was not allowed to speak by custodian of House. PTI lawmakers said that they would not sit idle while street crimes were on an all time rise in the metropolis. PTI lawmakers also staged a walkout from the budget session following this. Earlier during the session, an argument erupted between PTI parliamentarian Arsalan Taj Ghumman and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmakers when Ghumman insisted that the hospitals in Shahdadkot were in shambles. He asked the PPP to highlight any productive steps they had taken in their previous tenures apart from establishing NICVD. Ghumman claimed that large-scale embezzlement took place during PPP’s tenure and the government had not yet been held accountable for it. “Perhaps the PPP government should establish a ‘ministry of corruption’ to allow ministers to indulge in corruption freely,” said the PTI lawmaker sarcastically. Meanwhile, PPP parliamentarian Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah while criticising the MQM-P said, “MQM-P killed so many people including its own workers. We successfully stopped these antics and restored order to metropolis,” said Shah. In response to this, MQM-P lawmaker Abdul Basit Siddiqui claimed that the PPP had began looting the country right after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani postponed the assembly session till Thursday morning. Earlier on September 17, Sindh Assembly session was postponed after CM Sindh presented budget recommendations. Presenting budget recommendations for the next nine months in the Sindh Assembly, Shah announced a cut in the development budget. “The caretaker government had presented budget for three months,” the chief minister said. “We have curtailed the provincial development budget,” he said. “An earlier allocation of Rs598.9 billion(bn) for new schemes has been cut down to Rs26 billion.” The Sindh CM added, “The development budget has been reduced due to financial issues.” “In the previous year, taxes of more than Rs598.9 billion were accumulated by the Sindh government as was sales tax of Rs100 billion,” he said. Shah continued, “958 schemes were initiated as part of annual development programme will be completed this year.” “Rs102.48 billion have been allocated for the Sindh Home Department and Rs2 billion for department’s development programmes.” The Sindh chief minister further assured, “We are taking measures for the improvement in the quality of life of common people.” Meanwhile, PTI parliamentarian Haleem Adil Sheikh talked to journalists after attending the burial of an abducted boy-Rehan whose body was recovered near Al-Asif Square after his abduction nearly a month ago. He said that increasing incidents of child abduction in Karachi had shocked parents and citizens. “Sindh government has miserably failed in maintaining law and order situation in city,” he declared. Haleem Adil Sheikh told the media that child abductions were more serious than target killings. He demanded that the government purge police department from ‘black sheep’. The parliamentarian warned that otherwise, such incidents would continue occurring and controlling law and order situation would become a nightmare for the government. Published in Daily Times, September 27th 2018.