Ishratul Ebad Khan leaves Pakistan, flies to Dubai

KARACHI: Former Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan has left Pakistan and flew to Dubai, a day after he was removed from the top constitutional position of the province.

Sources said the former Sindh Governor travelled to Dubai via flight of a private airline from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport in the wee hours of Friday.

Ebad Khan was removed as Governor on Wednesday after gaining the distinction of becoming the longest-serving governor of any of the provinces in the country.

In his place, the President of Pakistan appointed Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui as the new Governor of Sindh province, who will be the 31st governor of the province.

Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan had assumed the charge of the post of Sindh governor on December 27, 2002, being the youngest governor of the country. He almost completed his 14 years term in the office of the provincial governor.

Last month, Chairman of Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Mustafa Kamal, lashing out at Dr Ishratul Ebadhad said that the governor was known in Sindh as “Rishwatul Ebad”.

He demanded for his immediate arrest by the government and for putting his name on the Exit Control List. He claimed the governor and the MQM founder were the biggest RAW agents the country had seen.

Without divulging any details of a so-called Dubai meeting in which the governor was present, Kamal said that money from ‘china-cutting and RAW’ were sent to the MQM founder through him (Ebad).

“For the last 14 years, Ishratul Ebad has been the governor and he knows a lot that is happening. Ebad has minted billions of rupees in china cutting and he is still getting money from the city government," alleged Kamal.

He said the governor was only interested in saving his post without caring what happens in the city. "The Sindh governor has a big role in the politics of Karachi and he just wants to remain the governor and is least bothered about the welfare of people."

He said that Ebad wanted to become the head of PSP but they had refused and a dialogue in this regard continued for one-and-a-half months. He said that Anees Qaimkhani and Raza Haroon approached the governor to quit the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and join his party.

He alleged that the governor was still in touch with the MQM founder and had a telephonic talk with the MQM founder when he was acquitted in the money laundering case in London and Ebad had congratulated him.