The upper House of the Parliament on Tuesday saw a highly charged session after the treasury benches created a furore on the remarks of an opposition senator made against Prime Minister Imran Khan and these verbal skirmishes led to the adjournment of session.
Unlike Monday that remained calm in terms of House proceedings, Senate's Tuesday session, presided over by Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla, in his capacity as acting chairman, remained tumultuous after the government senators targeted an opposition senator for his apparently below the belt remarks against the PM.
It all began when Atta Ur Rehman from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) called out PM for his speech televised on June 5 midnight and alleged that the Premier disrespected the Sahaba (Companions of Holy Prophet Muhammad Peace Be upon Him) in the said speech. He called the PM 'jahil' (ignorant), saying that he has no knowledge of the religion. This infuriated the treasury senators from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) including Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Swati, Leader of the House in Senate Shibli Faraz, Faisal Javed, Dr Shahzad Waseem, Nauman Wazir Khattak, Seemi Ezdi, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar (independent) among others. These senators took on Atta, who is the younger brother of JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman. "Shame on you for using derogatory words against the prime minister of Pakistan," the government senators addressed Atta.
So charged was the atmosphere of the House that senators including the Leader of the House Shibli Faraz himself, as well as Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, who usually remain calm during Senate proceedings, lost their cool. "You cannot sell religion like that. Who are you - you ignorant man - to accuse others of disrespecting the Sahaba, let alone the prime minister of Pakistan?" Shibli shouted at Atta.
The calls from acting chairman to maintain order in the House went in vain as Atta kept on criticising the prime minister while ignoring the government senators' protest. In violation of the House business protocol, Kakar took the microphone of Shibli Faraz and shouted, "No one would be allowed to claim monopoly on religion and misuse the religion for one's own vested interests. We all are the custodians of Islam and we can sacrifice our lives for the sanctity of Sahaba," he shouted.
Acting Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla asked the leader of the house not to allow others to use his microphone. However, Shibli defended Kakar's action. "He (Atta) cannot be allowed to issue Fatwa (religious decree) against anyone. If he doesn't mend his ways, there would be reaction and we cannot stop that," he told Mandviwalla. Addressing the Chair, the leader of the House said, "Mr Chairman, you should not allow Islam to be discussed like that."
Some infuriated government senators including Seemi Ezdi started shouting slogans "diesel, diesel," in an obvious slang reference to Atta's elder brother Fazlur Rehman.
Interestingly, senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders including PPP's Parliamentary Leader in Senate Sherry Rehman and former chairman Senate Raza Rabbani attended the Senate session but were not present in the House during the furore episode. "Where are PPP leaders like Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman who claim to be the voice of progressive forces? Call them. Why are they silent on this kind of religious fanaticism? This man is delivering hate speech which is just not acceptable," Shibli Faraz remarked.
Failing to main order in the House, the acting chairman suspended the session for 15 minutes and directed that all the derogatory and inappropriate remarks made by Atta and the government senators be expunged from the House business. He also stopped Atta from continuing with his tirade against the PM and gave the floor to Bahramand Tangi of the PPP.
After the session was resumed, Tangi started sharing his views on budget when Atta interrupted him asking the Chair to be allowed to continue speech. "Mr Chairman, why have you allowed someone else to speak when my speech is not finished?" Atta asked. At this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Swati shouted, "This man (Atta) is a curse - the curse is back with his evil agenda - throw him out of the House."
Swati said the treasury benches do not mind criticism from opposition as long as the criticism remains in the limits of decency and ethics. "We have been hearing the critical speeches from the opposition senators since the start of the budget session. We don't mind criticism but foul and abusive language in the name of criticism would not be tolerated. This man (Atta) is trying to misuse religion for cheap publicity. Who has given him the right to do so? It's not the PM but this man who is absolutely illiterate," he said.
As Atta continued his speech while defying the instructions of the Chair, the opposition senators including Sassui Palijo from the PPP asked Atta to stop his speech but he refused to do so.
After repeatedly warnings to both the sides to maintain order in the House, Acting Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla adjourned the session till 4:30 pm today (Wednesday).
Earlier, prior the House had plunged into hostility, Azam Swati and Javed Abbasi from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) separately shared their views respectively in favour of and against the draft Finance Bill 2019.
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