Haleem Adil Shaikh demands immediate arrests of killers of local PTI leader

Expressing concern over the recent killing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asif Haroon in Karachi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Haleem Adil Shaikh on Sunday demanded that the government catch the culprits immediately.

Addressing a press conference at the Insaf House, Shaikh, who is also the party’s parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly, said that workers of his party were being targeted in Karachi to disturb peace in the metropolis.

PTI Sindh General Secretary Mahfouz Ursani, Information Secretary MPA Jamal Siddiqui and Arslan Mirza accompanied him. Shaikh said those who upheld the truth were being targeted in Sindh. He also pointed out that criminal elements recently tried to kidnap a coordinator of the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, Firdous Shamim Naqvi. “We do not want that old Karachi back, which was infested with target killings,” he said.

Criticising the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led Sindh government, Shaikh said no one was safe in the city due to the government’s failure. “A female student. Misbah. was murdered a few days ago. Law and order is worsening not only in Karachi but also in the whole Sindh,” he said, asking the police to reject political pressure and work independently.

The PTI leader went on to allege that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London was still active in Karachi. He demanded of the Rangers director general to take stern action against criminals in Karachi to free the megacity of crime.

The PPP government has given Sindh the gift of AIDS, Shaikh remarked. He also lamented the deaths of children in Thar due to disease and malnutrition, and the unavailability of anti-rabies vaccine at government hospitals in the province.

Commenting on the visits of PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto to various areas of the country, the PTI leader said Bilawal should know that it was the federal government that had been providing treatment facilities to poor patients of Sindh. He added that in order to hide its failures in Sindh, the PPP was doing political stunts.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had already made it clear that the federal government was not going to take any unconstitutional action in Sindh.

Criticising Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Shaikh said he seemed to be working at the behest of India when he talked about waging a war in the whole Pakistan. He asked why Fazl did not wage a war when Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were plundering the country. He said even Jamaat-e-Islami was not supporting the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief.

The PM fought the case of Kashmir in an excellent way, the PTI leader said. He added that everyone had the right to protest but no one had the right to create disturbance, claiming that the parties whose leaders were in jail were supporting Fazl.

Presently, the PTI has the mandate of the people, he maintained, adding that his party would not allow Fazl to bring students of seminaries for his sit-in. Continuing with his criticism of the Sindh government, Shaikh said it was fooling the people of Sindh. He alleged that there was a vaccine-making facility in Sakrand but the vaccines prepared there were not being supplied to hospitals by the Sindh government.

An investigation has already begun against Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, he said, alleging that she was responsible for corruption in the dialysis machine funds for a hospital in Nawabshah.

According to the PTI leader, the National Accountability Bureau was an autonomous institution and it was not being run by the PTI. He said the PM had maintained that action would be taken against all the thieves.

Shaikh said he had already declared his assets and he would not let the Sindh government silence him. It costs Rs5 million to hold a daily session of the Sindh Assembly but the House is not called for the purpose of legislation as it is rather summoned to produce the incarcerated PPP leaders, he added. Regarding the recent lay-offs in media organisations, the PTI leaders said his party condemned such sackings and a law should be made to stop them.