People of Sindh need to be freed from PPP’s misrule, says Qureshi

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s vice-chairman and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said that people of Sindh are suffering consistently at the hands of Pakistan Peoples Party’s provincial government for the last 15 years and claimed his party will form the next government in Sindh by winning the elections in 2023.

“Similar to Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Sindh will also reject the PPP in the upcoming polls,” said Qureshi to the participants of the Huqooq-e-Sindh rally that reached Karachi on Sunday.

Hailing Karachi’s residents for participating in a large number to welcome the PTI’s march, Qureshi said the PTI’s journey started from Karachi, while the PPP’s end will also begin from the metropolis. “It is because Karachi’s politically-conscious residents created a silent revolution in 2018 general polls by stamping Imran Khan's party to victory." Qureshi said the PTI had received an unprecedented response from the people of Sindh during their ongoing march. “It shows the people of Sindh want a change in their lives. If they voted PTI to power, a prosperous Sindh would also emerge,” he said.

The foreign minister said honest leadership was needed as the looters could not build a new Pakistan. Criticizing the PPP’s governance in Sindh, he said the party has buried Bhutto's politics and introduced Zardari's politics. “People do need Roti Kapra aur Ma kan (bread, cloth, and house) but they also expect faith and honesty [on the part of rulers]." Qureshi said the country’s intelligentsia lives in Karachi. “Urdu, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Punjabi, Balochi, and all other languages are spoken in the city. The people of Karachi are kind-hearted and hospitable,” he said.

Sindh PTI president and Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi said Sindh faced destruction in PPP’s 15 years of rule. Zaidi expressed his confidence that the PTI would win many more Sindh Assembly seats in the next general elections and form a government. He said the PPP was holding its march only for 'power', while PTI’s march was for the rights of the Sindh province. Presenting a charter of demands to the Sindh government, Zaidi said the party demands legislation on local government in the light of the Supreme Court’s verdict and its speedy implementation, appointment of an impartial and neutral administrator as interim local government set-up, announce Provincial Financial Commission for all districts of the province and issue health cards. PTI also asked to depoliticize the police force and strict adherence to duration as defined in the new police act.

The provision of safe drinking water to all residents of the city, awarding NOC to Hyderabad University, the immediate inauguration of Organi Line Bus Rapid Transit, and introduction of public transport were also demanded. PTI also requested the Supreme Court to take sou motu notice of all murders in which the PPP’s lawmakers were involved, and speedy trial and conclusion of the case of dual nationality of CM Murad Ali Shah. They also demanded judicial commission for murders of media workers and killing incidents of female students in universities of Sindh. Former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Karachi president and MPA Bilal Ghaffar, party’s leaders Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Khurram Sherzaman, Saifur Rehman and other leaders also spoke to the rally that was ended at Quaidabad.