DADU: Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hasan says the Pakistan Peoples Party is not empowering Rangers to carry out operation in all parts of the province because the facilitators of terrorism have been found in its own ranks.

He demanded that operation should be launched against all terrorists and powers should be given to Rangers to operate in all parts of the province. The Muttahida Qaumi Mov­ement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had already submitted a motion in this regard to the Sindh Assembly, he said.

Mr Hasan, who led a delegation of his party to visit the shrine and the blast victims at the Sehwan hospital, was talking to journalists outside the shrine of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar on Monday. He was accompanied by party leaders Abdul Haseeb and Dilawar Qureshi.

He said that MQM-P condemned the suicide blast at the shrine and extended its heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families. “We all are together in this hour of grief,” he said.

He said that people of Sindh were braving trials and tribulations and they were being victimised. This victimisation must come to a stop now, he said.

People in Sehwan were forced to live without even the most basic facilities like healthcare. When the suicide blast hit the shrine, there were only three doctors at the taluka hospital to cope with the sudden deluge of patients and naturally they could not do so even with the best facilities available, he said.

The shortage of doctors multiplied agony of the blast victims and their attendants, he said.

He criticised the chief minister for keeping portfolios of several ministries under his control and said that former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah used to govern Sindh with additional charge of 14 ministries while the present chief minister held charge of eight ministries, besides his capacity as chief executive, which also took a toll on governance.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2017