ISLAMABAD, May 14: Cries of “murderers” resounded through parliament on Monday as the National Assembly broke up proceedings amid an opposition-called nationwide strike to protest against the weekend carnage in Karachi.
Opposition slogans blaming the government and its ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) for the rioting in Karachi on Saturday and Sunday drowned pleas for calm from the treasury benches before the session of the house was cut short for the day.
A noisy protest was made in the National Assembly even after the house adopted a government motion for a two-day debate on the law and order situation in the country, particularly in Karachi, where at least 41 people were killed on Saturday and seven more on Sunday.
But the debate could not start despite calls for cool from the chair, Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, forcing chairman at the time, PML member Zaheer Abbas Khokhar who presided over the sitting in the absence of Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, to adjourn the house until 10am on Tuesday.
Journalists also walked out from press galleries of both the houses to protest against gunfire targeted on the Aaj private television channel’s building and alleged misbehaviour with other reporters during Saturday’s free-for-all on Karachi streets when barricades and violence prevented suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry from driving from the airport to a lawyers’ convention before the authorities turned his and his lawyers back to Islamabad.
The PML president intervened twice, calling for the commotion in the National Assembly to cool down before opposition members, wearing black arm-bands as a mark of protest, marched out the chamber and then out of the parliament building chanting “go Musharraf go” and other slogans mainly blaming the MQM and President Pervez Musharraf for “murders” in Karachi.
The opposition lawmakers then marched to the nearby Supreme Court building where a group of protesters stood with placards bearing slogans in support of Justice Iftikhar.
Chaudhry Shujaat told the house that he had talked to MQM leader Altaf Hussain by telephone in London and here to Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali and the chief whip of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) in the National Assembly Khurshid Ahmed Shah, as part of his efforts to prevent the Karachi situation from turning into a “linguistic” confrontation. But he gave no details of his contacts.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Niazi had earlier said his motion for a debate would take care of some opposition adjournment motions on the same subject and that he would like a frank and truthful discussion so the house could be fully aware of the situation and those responsible for the killings could be punished.
He proposed that three members each from the ruling coalition and the opposition make speeches on Monday — which could not happen — while Tuesday, a private members’ day, be devoted to the Karachi debate.
A similar government-initiated debate on the Karachi situation last Thursday mainly to focus on the MQM plans to hold a rally on Saturday to rival a planned reception for Justice Iftikhar had remained inconclusive and was not resumed on Friday when the house was adjourned for the two-day weekend.
