KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution showering security forces particularly the Sindh police with praise over making a swift breakthrough by arresting four of a bigger group of the May 13 Safoora carnage suspects.

The resolution, moved by Nusrat Sultana of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was supported by lawmakers across the divide.

Several members paid tribute to the law-enforcement agencies in general and the Sindh police in particular for arresting what they described as the mastermind and his associates in the carnage within five days after the attack on the victims’ bus.

Also read: Well-educated militants behind high-profile terror attacks: CM

The resolution read: “This assembly appreciates the security and intelligence agencies in general and Sindh police in particular for tracking down the perpetrators within days of the incident of Safoora Goth carnage in which over 40 Shia Ismaili community members were killed.”

Speaking on the resolution, Ms Sultana said the credit of this outstanding performance also went to the chief minister, who supervised the police action that led to the arrests.

Imtiaz Shaikh of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional said it was a great achievement on the part of the Sindh police for which the government deserved appreciation.

Sher Zaman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf said the LEAs had also succeeded in tracking down the suspects of the infamous Shikarpur imambargah bombing and Baldia Town factory fire tragedies as well as the high-profile killings of rights activist Sabeen Mahmud, political figure Zahra Shahid, journalist Wali Khan Babar and some other such personalities.

Leader of the Opposition Khwaja Izharul Hasan also termed arrest of the Safoora carnage suspects a big achievement by the Sindh police. He greeted the Rangers director general and the Sindh Inspector general of police, saying that Rangers and police personnel were in the forefront in the fight against terrorists.

He called for depoliticising the police and equipping them with modern weapons, besides making endeavours to change the mindset behind extremism. “This [kind of] mindset is present in our universities from the era of [president General] Ziaul Haq,” he said.

Minister for Information Sharjeel Inam Memon said the Sindh police was the best of all four provinces, arguing that they had successfully been working on all major cases right from the Shikarpur imambargah bombing to the Safoora carnage in recent months. He appealed to people against making sweeping statements against any institution, saying that this could hurt the feelings of the families of whose whose dear ones laid down their lives in the line of duty.

He gave credit of the recent breakthroughs to the chief minister, along with the police and Rangers chiefs, and said that the CM was the captain of the targeted operation while the LEAs’ efficiency had resulted in bringing about a marked improvement in the law and order.

After the house unanimously carried the resolution, the chair prorogued the session, that had begun on April 6, sine die. With the close of the day, the assembly completed its second parliamentary year in its five-year tenure.

Before reading out Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad’s order to prorogue the session, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani expressed his pleasure over the assembly’s performance, saying that the house not only completed the mandatory requirement of 100 days of business in a parliamentary year but also maintained its lead in the legislation process over other provincial assemblies.

Legislation

During the day’s lengthy proceedings, the house unanimously passed “The Sindh Service Tribunals (4th amendment) Bill, 2015, tabled by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sikandar Mandhro. He told the house that the bill provided appointment of two members, one being a sitting district and sessions judge and the other a sitting civil servant in BS-20 preferably having a legal background, for a period of three years or less for one time only or till the date of superannuation, whichever ended earlier.

The speaker also announced that the governor had given his assent to “The Sindh Local Government (Second Amend­ment) Bill, 2015.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2015

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