Minorities have equal rights, says governor

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Wednesday said that the minority communities across the country have equal rights in accordance with the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and they are completely free to practise their respective religions.

Talking to the media at the inauguration ceremony of the IT Minister’s Forum for Youth, Innovation, Industry & Ease of Doing Business at the 19th ITCN Asia IT & Telecom Show, Ismail said the masses are facing difficulties due to unavailability of basic facilities across the province.

The governor said incidents occur everywhere across the world, but an effective mechanism should be in place to tackle different situations. Unfortunately, he said, Sindh’s people are not being provided proper health facilities.

The hospitals being run under the administrative control of the provincial government are in poor conditions, he added. Ismail said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah is well aware of the situation, adding that he (the governor) will contact the CM and assure him that the federal government would provide every required support.

Replying to a query about the campaign of the Sindh government for cleaning Karachi, the governor said that complete cooperation will be provided to the provincial administration in this regard.

Future Summit

Addressing the Future Summit organised by the Nutshell Forum at a hotel, Ismail said that corruption in the past had badly damaged the economy of the country, while billions of dollars had been spent in the war on terrorism.

The governor said that the incumbent government had prioritised the strengthening of the country’s economy, adding that the fruits of those efforts had started yielding results. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan was trying his best to put the country on the path of development and progress, but the private sector had also an important role to play in this regard, as it was the need of the hour.

He also said the CPEC was an important project not only for the country but for the entire region. There are numerous investment opportunities available in different sectors of the country, he added. He later told the media that the Karachi Strategic Committee will soon present its recommendations to the federation. He said that Sindh is one and will remain one. “We have no intentions to divide Sindh.”

Responding to a question, he said that 90 per cent of the work on five developmental projects had been completed and that they had been inaugurated during the visit of the PM. To another query, he said the imposition of governor’s rule had never been considered. Earlier, Federal Minister for Science & Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, K-Electric Chairman Ikram Sehgal and others had also addressed the conference.