PESHAWAR: The opposition parties boycotted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly`s sitting on Monday against what they called derogatory remarks of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak against JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman during PTI`s Islamabad rally on Sunday.

When the session began, opposition leader Maulana Lutfur Rehman drew Speaker Asad Qaisar`s attention on a point of order towards the chief minister`s statement against the JUI-F chief (his party leader) and said the language used by Pervez Khattak was unbecoming to the head of a government.

`I don`t blame Pervez Khattakfor that conduct as his party chief (Imran Khan of PTI) has been using offensive language against national leaders for the last four months,` said the opposition leader, who is the younger brother of Fazlur Rehman.

Lutfur Rehman said his party`s senior leader was assassinated in Sukkur but unfortunately, the PTI government in Khyber Palchtunkhwa didn`t even allow worl(ers to protest the killing.

In his speech at D Chowk in Islamabad on Sunday, the chief minister had criticised JUI-F workers for blocking major highways in the province, including PeshawarIslamabad section of the motorway, which, he said, forced him and PTI activists to use alternate roads to reach the federal capital.

He had also said, `if JUI-F workers again block roads in the province, then he will drag Fazlur Rehman on the roads.

Lutfur Rehman told the house that PTI activists had blocked Islamabad`s key D Chowk for four months and attacked ParliamentHouse, PTV Headquarters and Prime Minister`s House but the provincial chief minister was talking about principles.

`PTI workers have blocked D Chowk under what law, especially when Pervez Khattak advises others not to block roads,` he said.

ANP, PML-N, PPP and Qaumi Watan Party lawmakers also condemned the chief minister`s statement and said organising peaceful rallies to protest their leader`s killing was the fundamental right of JUI-F workers.

They said it was unfortunate that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister was advising JUI-F workers against using their political right of holding a wheel-jam strike against the targeted killing of their leader.

PPP parliamentary leader Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha asked PTI leaders to stop assassinating the character of national leaders.

`Will Pervez Khattak use the machinery of its government if PTI worl(ers shut Peshawar down on December 16,` he asked the treas-ury benches.

ANP MPA Syed Jafar Shah warned that workers would besiege the Chief Minister`s House, Governor`s House and other important buildings in the capital city if the PTI government failed to stop targeted killing of politicians in the province.

QWP lawmaker Anisa Zeb said the chief minister`s tone was aggressive and that it seemed he (Khattak) had asl
She said JUI-F leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro was a senior politician and parliamentarian and his assassination was condemnable.

PTI MPA Yaseen Khalil criticised JUI-F workers for blocking highways in the province saying the act had stressed out road users.

He asked the provincial government to seek explanation from the police and administrations of the respective districts over failure to act against the JUI-F activists, whoblocked highways and roads.

Public health engineering minister Shah Farman defended the chief minister`s statement against Fazlur Rehman and said Pervez Khattak had shown patience and took a detour to reach Islamabad instead of ordering action against road blockers.

He said the JUI-F protest on the roads was meant to give the people an impression that the PTI government was unable to keep highways in own province open to the traffic.

`It was a golden opportunity for us (PTI) to take strict action and derail the system but we didn`t do so to prove that we believe in democratic values,` he said.

The minister said the chief minister was under pressure to clear the roads from JUI-F workers by force but he exercised restraint and didn`t order action against road blockers.

He said the blocking of roads by JUI-F workers seemed to be a planned move by their party leadership as they targeted only PTI workers bound for Islamabad.