Those seeking Sindh govt’s dissolution over street crime are silent on Peshawar tragedy: Ghani

Those who earlier demanded dissolution of the Sindh government after a lone street crime incident in Karachi are now silent on the recent terrorist activity in Peshawar that killed dozens of people at a mosque.

Sindh Information and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said this on Sunday while addressing a press conference. He said that the opponents of the Sindh government who would berate it after every street crime incident should realise after the Peshawar carnage that such incidents can take place anywhere.

The Sindh government had fulfilled its commitment to the bereaved family of slain journalist Athar Mateen and the journalist fraternity of Karachi that his killers would be brought to justice, he added.

Ghani claimed that several persons involved in the killing of the journalist had been arrested and one suspect had been killed by police in an encounter in Kamber-Shahdadkot. He expressed the hope that the arrested suspects would be handed down a stern punishment by courts.

Ghani also expressed gratitude to the people of Sindh for giving a warm reception to the ongoing long march of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from Karachi to Islamabad. He said that at the same time, the people of Sindh rejected the long march of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from Ghotki to Karachi.

He also thanked the spiritual followers of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who, according to him, had not shown up to support the PTI march. The Sindh information minister maintained that even after crossing Sindh, the march of the PPP was well received by the people of southern and central Punjab.

He said that on the way, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was supposed to address supporters of his party at a single place in every city but he had to address thrice in Okara and Sahiwal owing to the massive turnout of people.

According to Ghani, thousands of motor vehicles accompanied the PPP chairman in the long march with the aim to reach Islamabad. He condemned what he said attempts made by the Punjab government to place obstacles to frustrate the movement of the PPP long march towards Islamabad. He said such undemocratic attempts had started as soon as the long march reached Rahim Yar Khan and had been continuing till Lahore.

The information minister claimed that on the contrary, when the PTI march commenced in Ghotki, only a few hundred people were part of it. He added that due to less participants, no leader of the PTI addressed the march when it entered Hyderabad that was the second largest city of Sindh.

Ghani went on to claim that the PTI had sought support from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) as a face-saving move before its long march entered Karachi. He added that even if the MQM-P leaders called for joining the PTI march, its workers would not do so.

To a question, Ghani said that the PPP long march would disperse peacefully after reaching Islamabad as the party intended to continue to fight its case democratically against the PTI’s rule. He said the opposition had turned the tables on the PTI government and resultantly Prime Minister Imran Khan had been desperately reaching out to his coalition partners to preserve his rule in the country.