Unanimous PA resolution condemns Machh tragedy

The Sindh Assembly on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn the recent brutal killing of 11 coal miners in the Mach area of Balochisan.

The resolution was jointly presented by lawmakers of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the opposition.

Speaking on the resolution, Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah bemoaned the Mach tragedy and said that the implementation on the National Action Plan against terrorism had been stopped since the formation of the present federal government.

He alleged that India was behind the brutal murders of the coal miners, and remarked that Prime Minister Imran Khan should go to Balochistan on humanitarian grounds to meet the families of the slain mineworkers.

Sindh Women Development Minister Shehla Raza criticised the prime minister, saying that he had shown indifference towards the tragedy as he had yet not visited Quetta to meet the grieving families.

She mentioned that Islam did not allow even killing of non-Muslims so there was no justification for the killing of the innocent coal miners.

Opposition lawmaker of MQM-P Muhammad Hussain Khan lamented that the coal miners were killed after verification of their identification as being members of the Shia Hazara community.

He said the concerned members of the House fully shared the sorrow and grief of the bereaved families from Balochistan. He appealed to the government to immediately take cognisance of the threat to the Shia Hazara community as their members had not been safe even in their native areas.

The parliamentary party leader of the PTI in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Shaikh, said enemies of peace had killed the mineworkers in Balochistan. He added that the forces conspiring to weaken the state of Pakistan were responsible for the tragedy.

The PTI MPA said terrorists had targeted people from all the communities indiscriminately as thousands of soldiers belonged to the Pakistani armed forces had been martyred in the war against terrorism.

He also endorsed the demand of the protesting bereaved family members for the PM’s visit to them to personally assure them justice. He said the slain coal miners belonged to a very innocent community of Pakistan.

Teachers’ vacancies

Earlier, speaking during the question hour of the session, Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani informed the concerned lawmakers that there were 37,000 job vacancies in the provincial education department that would be filled through a meritorious process.

He said these 37,000 job vacancies were the main reason behind the non-functional schools in the province.

Ghani explained that recently the recruitment drives conducted in the province on the merit basis ended up with the appointment of lesser number of teachers than the available vacancies. He said the population of an area was the main criterion for establishing the need of a school there. A school should have at least 30 students to make it a viable educational institution, he added.

The education minister said the government-run schools had been built in the past without taking into account educational needs of the area population as later on, such schools had to be closed.

MQM-P legislator Khawaja Izharul Hassan pointed out that the government-run schools in Karachi were mostly in a highly unsatisfactory condition.

He said there was no accountability at all regarding in what manner the annual budget of the provincial education department was being spent. He asked the education minister to accompany him to visit any government-run educational institution in the city to see its plight.