ZULFIQAR AHAMD

ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Dr Fehmida Mirza, and a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) loyalist Shazia Marri were embroiled in an ugly catfight, on Thursday, in the National Assembly, after the former accused the Sindh government of allegedly occupying her lands in Badin district through Basharat Zardari.

Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, Dr Mirza who is a former speaker of National Assembly said that Basharat Zardari, who has the support of Sindh government, occupied her family’s declared lands at gun point, after she raised canal link water issue on the floor of the house.

“I want security from you Mr Speaker as that [sic] Basharat Zardari occupies my lands in Badin…who else should I ask for help, as I’ve remained [NA] speaker,” she added.

In the same breath, she continued that there are threats to the lives of people, as the province has been handed over to the criminal who are calling the shots and forcibly occupying lands of people.

“I want to tell you that me and my family have threats as Basharat Zardari has planted in the province by the provincial government who is busy in extortion and grabbing people’s lands,” she maintained.

She said that the PPP chairman arrived in Badin and people raised the issue of water theft in the lower Sindh, and he assured to resolve the issue through the concerned minister but still there has been no action.

She also accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of acting as a silent spectator as illegal water connections were issued by a provincial minister of Sindh government on May 19.

Responding to Dr Mirza, Marri said that water shortage has become a matter of life and death for people of Sindh, but the member from Badin is trying to play politics over the issue instead of raising the concerns of the people.

In a sarcastic tome, the PPP MNA from Sanghar said the PPP wants that Link canal should not be opened, but people like Fehmida Mirza are trying to cash in on the situation in a bid to settle their scores with others at the cost of masses.

In an obvious reference to alleged write off of Rs500 million loans from different banks and by Dr Mirza and her husband Zulfikar Mirza, Marri said: “We all are talking about water issue in Sindh and not personal loan write off”.

BILLS

The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill, 2021 clubbed with The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 were introduced in the House.