SHIKARPUR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Pakistan People’s Party are trying to cling to power as long as they can by pitting their workers and people of different ethnicities against each other.

Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, he called for a severe action against culprits involved in the Baldia Town factory fire which claimed lives of about 260 people. The tragedy could not be ignored, he said and added that the culprits should be awarded death sentence.

Earlier, the PTI chief visited the central Imambargah to offer Fateha for those who lost their lives in the Jan 30 suicide attack and condoled with the bereaved families.

Mr Khan, who was accompanied by main leaders of the party Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Naz Baloch and Khalid Jakhrani, noted that the Imambargah attack was not the first of its kind in Shikarpur as five such incidents had occurred in the past, but the Sindh government did nothing to prevent them.

He said all provincial governments except that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were squandering their resources for achieving political ends and victimising opponents, instead of using them on providing protection to people’s lives and honour and property.

He urged the governments of Sindh and other provinces as well as the federal government to let police discharge their professional duty of maintaining peace and order and providing security to people.

In reply to a question, the PTI chief said he had never attended any public meeting of any terrorist outfit anywhere in the country.

He said he felt no fear in organising a public meeting in Karachi or at any other place in Sindh and faced no threats. The PTI thrice staged public meetings in Karachi and other parts of the province, he said.

Mr Khan advised ‘democratic and patriotic’ workers and supporters of the MQM to dissociate themselves from Altaf Hussain.

Earlier, the PTI chairman offered support to the Shuhada committee which was working to get justice for the victims of Imambargah tragedy and expressed anger over the provincial government’s failure to nab terrorists behind the suicide attack.

He supported the `long march’ the committee had planned to press the government for the acceptance of its demands.

Published in Dawn February 13th , 2015

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