SUKKUR: Differences between father and son, former PPP MNA Mir Babul Khan Jakhrani who has recently joined Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and his son PPP MNA Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, further deepened when PTI workers held a sit-in on the National Highway on Saturday against police action against party workers.

Police arrested a PTI worker and lodged a case under sections of Anti-Terrorism Act against 32 others, including leader Mir Babul’s younger son PTI leader Khalid Jakhrani and his cousin Wali Jakhrani in the wake of a press conference on Friday by Khalid Jakhrani in which he levelled allegations against his elder brother Mir Aijaz.

The FIR lodged on behalf of state at Saddar police station accused PTI leaders and workers of damaging government property by closing all roads leading to cattle market during a protest held earlier.

The police arrested one Bakhat Talani and conducted raids for the arrest of a driver of Mir Babul, Janib Bhatti, but failed to arrest him. Janib Bhatti accused police of raiding his house without women police and looting valuables after breaking open locks on his house.

Mir Babul who led the sit-in on Saturday complained of political victimisation at the hands of his son PPP MNA Mir Aijaz and registration of case against PTI leaders alleged that officials of district administration were blindly following orders of PPP MNA Mir Aijaz.

He termed fake the case lodged by Jacobabad police against PTI workers which he said had been registered at the behest of his son Mir Aijaz and said he had written to the Sindh High Court, informing the court about the excesses they were suffering at the hands of Jacobabad district administration and Mir Aijaz.

He said that he had also informed the court about massive corruption in Jacobabad and said that time had arrived for accountability of a nexus of corrupt officers and politicians in the district, which had sucked dry the resources of the backward district.

He warned that historic sit-ins would be held from Kashmore to Garhi Khero, demanding transfers of DC and SSP of Jacobabad who were playing into the hands of PPP. The protest would continue till the transfer of the officers, he said.

He said: “He has been made a victim of revengeful action since he supported the PTI candidate in by-election for PS-14 Jacobabad.” Problems were being created for the traders of cattle market who were supporting the PTI, he said.

He alleged said the DC had handed over the cattle market to municipal committee and now the administration was collecting ‘extortion money’ from cattle head traders, which was injustice.

The administration had deployed large contingents of police around the cattle market and intensified patrolling as long as the sit-in was in progress but luckily no untoward incident took place after the end of sit-in and the PTI workers dispersed peacefully.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2016