The Punjab Assembly on Wednesday turned into a fish market after members from the treasury and the opposition hurled shoes at one another and exchanged objectionable remarks which had to be expunged from the assembly proceedings.
The Opposition woman member hurled a shoe at Sheikh Alla ud Din of PML-Q (unification bloc) after they passed objectionable comments against them.
The Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Mohammed Iqbal warned the members to avoid resorting to such an act otherwise, he warned, their members could be suspended.
Despite the Punjab Assembly warning, the opposition staged a walk out and didn’t participate in the assembly business and the treasury approved all the 43 demands for grant amid the opposition boycott.
The situation in the assembly got tense when Abdul Razzaq Dhillon, while responding to the protest of the opposition women members against the ruling party, passed remarks against Seemal Kamran, Majida Zaidi and other opposition members who had been active in the protest against the chief minister during his presence in the House the other day.
After the remarks by Dhillon, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q woman MPA sent a chit to the Speaker to take notice of, what they termed, ‘objectionable’ remarks and bar the member from using such language. Nevertheless, when the said member continued his abusive tirade, it provoked the other opposition members as well who stood up on their seats and started protesting against it.
The situation worsened after Sheikh Alla ud Din – who had indulged in verbal duels with women members on a number of times during last four years, stood up on his seat and continued using objectionable remarks against the women members.
During his brief speech, he also termed the opposition women members ‘circus dancers’ who, he said, were not aware of their abode.
The remarks added fuel to fire and Alla ud Din became the focus of criticism by the opposition members. During the exchange of heated arguments, a woman member from the treasury benches threw a shoe towards opposition members. In retaliation, women member Seemal Kamran hurled a shoe at Alla ud Din but missed the target. Rather the shoe hit an elderly MPA from Sheikhupura sitting on the bench next to Sheikh.
A Pakistan Muslim League-Q (unification bloc) member asked the chair to take notice of the occurrence and reminded him of a motion that was submitted by him two years ago. Had the chair paid attention towards the privilege motion, the situation of the House would have been much better, he regretted. The Punjab Assembly Speaker expressed resentment over the shoe hurling incident and announced suspending anyone who had had indulged in the act. Interestingly, he did not mention any name. During his speech, Pakistan Muslim League-Q Parliamentary leader Chaudhry Zaheer also demanded apology from Sheikh.
After the latter did not ‘oblige’ him, the opposition walked out of the assembly.
The provincial law minister, Rana Sana Ullah Khan, requested the chair to take notice of the incident and demanded apology from Chaudhry Zaheer for having no control on three women members who had made the House hostage. After the Opposition staged walkout, the treasury approved demands for grants amid its absence. This is noteworthy that, nearly two years ago, Sheikh Alla ud Din had exchanged hot words with Pakistan Muslim League-Q MPA Samina Khawar Hayat who had used the word ‘Lota’ (turncoat) for him.
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