KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Wednesday informed the Sindh Assembly that he had set up a three-member committee being headed by a deputy inspector general of police to probe into the killing of protesting PIA employees and had told the Joint Action Committee of the PIA employees that a judicial commission could be constituted if they had no faith in policy inquiry.

A judicial inquiry could be ordered by requesting the chief justice to appoint a judge for the purpose, but the PIA JAC representatives who met him on Tuesday night posed trust in the Sindh government assuring him that they didn’t have any complaints against the provincial government, said Mr Shah while winding up a discussion on the tragedy that surrounded the privatisation of the national flag carrier.

The chief minister assured the house, which later passed two resolutions condemning the firing on a peaceful protest over PIA privatization and seeking an inquiry commission on the Karachi airport incident, that the DIG would head the inquiry committee that would have two SSPs as its members. He said that justice would be done and whoever was found involved in the firing would be severely punished.

Senior Minister Nisar Ahmad Khuhro soon after offering Fateha by the house sought permission to table out of turn his resolution signed by his colleagues on the airport firing.

The opposition, which also had submitted a resolution on the same subject with similar contents, was read out by leader of the opposition Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hasan, followed by its reading one after another by leaders of the parliamentary parties in the house Syed Sardar Ahmad of the MQM, Nand Kumar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, Khurram Sherzaman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Haji Shafi Jamote of the PML-Nawaz.

The resolutions were clubbed together and put to a vote after the speeches of the chief minister and 35 lawmakers from the treasury and opposition benches. The house carried the resolution after which Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani adjourned the session at 4.15pm till Thursday.

The resolution reads: “This assembly condemns the incident of violence on the peaceful protest against privatisation by PIA employees in which three innocent lives have been lost and many have been injured including journalists.

“This house recommends to the government of Sindh to appoint a commission of inquiry mutually agreed by the PIA workers association, and bring the culprits to justice as soon as possible.”

Earlier referring to the speeches delivered by some opposition lawmakers holding the Sindh government responsible for the tragedy, the chief minister said that it was his party’s mission to protect workers, farmers and youths and work for their progress and well-being. It was for this reason that the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government adopted the policy of giving 12 per cent shares of every public institution to their workers, he added.

The chief minister then announced Rs2 million for each family of the deceased employee and Rs0.2 million to the injured besides free-of-charge treatment at the Aga Khan University Hospital.

Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hasan said the federal and provincial governments were holding each other responsible for the incident while both were responsible for its inquiry. He said PIA employees had staged a demonstration across Pakistan and asked as to why the incident had occurred in Karachi only.

He said the Rangers and police were under the Sindh government and if there had been some conspiracy, the Sindh government must expose it. He also said the killers of Peoples Unity leader Aamir Shah had not been arrested so far.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2016