The opposition in Sindh Assembly on Saturday staged a token walkout to protest against the ban imposed on the entry of MMA leaders Fazlu Rehman and Husain Ahmed in Sindh.
Immediately after the recitation from the Holy Quran and Naat, the opposition protested against the ban and termed it as "gagging of democracy and democratic institution by the Sindh Government".
The two leaders and their party member were due to arrive in Karachi to lead 'peace rally' on Sunday.
Replying to points of order raised by MMA's Hameedullah, Nasrullah Shajih, Umer Sadiq and Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Rafiq Engineer and Farheen Moughal, Finance Minister Sardar Ahmed said that the action had been taken to pre-empt untoward incidents which usually follow such rallies.
He said that the ban had been imposed only on two leaders, Husain Ahmed and Fazlur Rehman.
He referred to Article 15 of the Constitution, which was referred so frequently and said that under this article the government had the authority to ban the entry of anyone in public interest.
He said that the City District government had imposed Section 144.
Sardar said that experience had shown that such calls were not without creating law and order situation. During the previous calls of MMA Karachi saw worst kind of disturbances. Properties were set on fire, people were killed and public transport vehicles were damaged. All industrial and economic activities came to a halt. The miscreants and anti-social elements caused violence.
Irfamullah Marwat said that MMA members had begun speeches with threatening notes saying that if the government wanted peace in Karachi, it would have to lift the ban. He said this meant that if the ban was not lifted they would not allow peace to prevail in Karachi.
Kanwar Naveed from the treasury benches said that the decision of the chief minister to ban the entry of two MMA leaders was in the national interest. It showed his concern about the people of Karachi who had suffered most at the hands of such rallies and protest marches.
Later, discussion on budget was resumed. Fareeha Razzaq Haroon of the PPP initiated the discussion. The discussion would continue for two more days.