LARKANA: Sindh Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) secretary general Maulana Rashid Mehmood Soomro has said he will disclose the names of facilitators, abettors and handlers of the assassins of his father and predecessor Dr Khalid Memdood Soomro at the Nov 29 Shaheed-i-Islam conference convened by the party at the Larkana municipal stadium.

Speaking at a press conference at Madressah Isha’atul Quran wal Hadees here on Thursday, Maulana Soomro, who was accompanying his brother and JUI-F Larkana district chief Maulana Nasir Soomro, said: “We in three consecutive meetings with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari conveyed to him the names of these suspects and he [Mr Zardari] promised to do something but without any practical step.”

Maulana Soomro claimed that the very suspects were blocking the process of transferring the assassination case to a military court.

Quoting Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali, he said the Sindh government was reluctant to refer the case to a military court.

“Now I am going to expose the assassins, their facilitators, abettors and handlers at the Nov 29 conference,” he said, and warned that he and his party should not be held responsible for any situation arising out of the disclosing of the names “under compulsion”.

“It is disgusting that out of seven witnesses not a single witness’s statement has been completed in the case one year on. This speaks volumes of the pace of proceedings of the case,” he said, adding that Mr Zardari, MNA Faryal Talpur and the Sindh government all had made commitment for a speedy investigation and trial of the case. He said the conference would be a major event where more than 3,000 JUI-F volunteers would help the law enforcement agencies in ensuring security during the proceedings. “It [the event] will be a surprise for the PPP,” he said.

He said the conference would shed light on a personality [Dr Khalid Soomro] whose name was placed in top 500 Muslim influential figures of the world. The list was compiled by the Jordanian government, he said.

Maulana Soomro also announced his intention to contest against PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for the NA-207 seat in the next general elections.

Grain market stays shut

The trade activities remained suspended at the main Anaj Mandi in Shahdadkot on Thursday over the issue of paddy procurement at the rate of Rs900 per 40 kilogram. Paddy growers and small khatidars have been demanding a reasonable rate to be fixed in the light of the Sindh High Court directives whereas the agriculture secretary has recently appeared in the case and informed that a summary of fixing procurement rate of paddy at Rs900 per 40 kilogram had been sent to the chief minister. The summary, according to him, will be signed within a fortnight.

The deputy commissioner of Qambar-Shahdadkot in a meeting with the representatives of growers, rice millers asked rice millers to purchase paddy at the rate of Rs900 per 40 kilograms. The stakeholders had also agreed not to make one-kg per 40 kilogram in weight during the transaction.

However, millers have refused to honour the agreement, leaders of the Qambar-Shahdadkot Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) said. Shahdadkot is the key trade centre of paddy where 101 rice mills are established. The reports reaching from Ratodero also said that millers were not keeping the word.

Meanwhile Sindh Peoples Hari Committee, Larkana district met Punhal Khan Luhar in chair on Thursday and discussed threadbare the issue of paddy procurement. The meeting decried over the millers reluctance to lift paddy at the rate of Rs900 per 40 kilogram. They meeting called for setting up Passco’s procurement centers to buy the paddy stocks otherwise the growers would face tremendous financial losses.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015