KARACHI: Sindh Information and Labour Minister, Saeed Ghani, has said the real objective behind the protests staged by the opposition political parties in the province on the pretext of the local government system is to cause ethnic conflict in Karachi.
Speaking at a press conference here at his camp office on Saturday, the Sindh Information and Labour Minister said the genuine issues of the masses were being ignored by the Opposition parties. He said the Pakistan People’s Party was the only political party in the country, which in the recent past had staged countrywide protests thrice against the sheer incompetence of the present federal government which has resultied in an unprecedented price hike of essential products. He said the PPP’s plan to agitate against the anti-people policies of the federal government would continue and protests would be held in every district of Karachi including outside the Sindh Governor House.
Saeed Ghani mentioned that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Muttahida Quami Movement, and Grand Democratic Alliance, had joined forces to collectively stage a protest demonstration in Karachi against the local government system. He said the PTI had been in power in the centre and three provinces while MQM and GDA were coalition partners in the federal government. Ghani said the provincial local government system was merely being used as a pretext to divert the public’s attention away from the real issues. He said the people in the country have to massively suffer due to a constant increase in the electricity tariff and cost of other essential products including medicines. Ghani said the farmers in the country are also facing hardships due to nonavailability of fertilizer as resultantly the people would face wheat flour shortage.
The minister said although MQM and GDA claimed that they were sincere with the people of Karachi and Sindh but their federal ministers had never spoken against constant suffering of the people of the province. The provincial information Minister praised Defence Minister, Pervez Khattak, for showing courage before Prime Minister Imran Khan by raising the serious issue of gas shortfall in his province while similar initiative in the best interest of people of Sindh was never taken by the federal ministers belonging to MQM and GDA.
Responding to a query concerning undue favours given to certain influential jail inmates transferred to different hospitals in Karachi, Minister Saeed Ghani, has said that although Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali holds the additional portfolio of provincial Home Department but it is not necessary that he knows everything concerning the law and order-related affairs of the province. He said the Sindh government is conducting an investigation into the issue and those involved would be taken to task.
He said that a protocol was available for transfer of a prisoner from the jail to a hospital on health grounds and added the Sindh CM lacked the ability to keep an eye on the record of every prisoner. He raised the question as to whether or not the Sindh CM would refuse the request if a qualified doctor recommended to him that a certain jail inmate should be transferred to the hospitalt.
Answering another question, the provincial information minister conceded that instance of streets crimes had increased in Karachi but said that unemployment and other economic issues were responsible for such incidents. He said that upright police officials were present and they were obligated to maintain a law and order situation and secure the lives of the citizens.