100pc credit for Karachi operation goes to PM: Zubair

Says Raheel Sharif was common man and normal general but media gave credit of everything to him

ISLAMABAD: Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair on Thursday claimed 100 per cent credit for the operation and restoration of peace in Karachi went to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

He said Raheel Sharif was a common man and a normal general but the media gave credit of everything to him. “A perception has been created as if Gen Raheel Sharif had dreamt of Karachi’s peace like Allama Iqbal,” he remarked.

Zubair recalled that the decision for launching the operation in Karachi was taken in September 2013 when Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was the army chief. Addressing a business summit, the governor said peace was restored in Karachi during the past four years. The success of the operation in Karachi was everyone’s success, he added.

Zubair said the Rangers would continue operating in the port city till the economy was stabilised. He also remarked that despite the deployment of Rangers in Karachi since long, the non-serious attitude of the previous government hindered the restoration of peace. “No political party could now shut Karachi,” he said. He said that the MQM founder had become a part of history, adding, “Nine Zero is closed and nobody wants to reopen it.”

Zubair said the sooner the Panama Leaks verdict was announced, the better it was for Pakistan. “Delay in the judgment is negatively impacting the stock market,” he noted.