HYDERABAD: Rejecting Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah’s allegation of neglecting the drought-hit Tharparkar, former health minister Dr Saghir Ahmed described the remarks as ‘mind-boggling’.

Speaking to journalists here on Sunday evening, Dr Ahmed, also a member his party’s coordination committee, argued that on the one hand, the chief minister blamed him for everything and, on the other, he was defending the health department on floor of the house while speaking about drought in Tharparkar.

“While indulging in a blame game unnecessarily, the chief minister is making confusing statements,” he said.

Dr Ahmed said drought in Thar had been there for five years and the MQM was not part of government when it was reported.

“I have seen paid content claiming remarkable performance of the Sindh government which is in sharp contrast to what the CM has been saying these days,” the former minister said. When a newsman asked why he accepted the ministry for a third time when situation was not encouraging, Dr Ahmed said it’s better that the CM was asked why did he give the ministry to the MQM despite poor performance on his part.

He recalled Mr Shah’s statement on the floor of the Sindh Assembly that the Mithi hospital is even better than Karachi’s civil hospital. He said that the CM must explain why children were dying there and why show-cause notices issued were withdrawn.

“If the MQM is responsible for poor performance of the health department, then the CM should have expressed his reservations instead of appreciating its performance in his every budget speech over the past five years,” Dr Ahmed argued.

Previously, someone else had been blamed for the Thar drought and then things settled, he said without naming Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman, who was relieved of the relief portfolio in March following media reports about death of many children from malnourishment in the drought hit areas.

MQM coordination committee member Shakir Ali, lawmakers Wasim Hussain, Sabir Kaimkhani, Dilawar Qureshi, Zubair Ahmed Khan and Rashid Khilji were also present.

In reply to another question, he said that the need for a no-confidence motion against the CM (as indicated by MQM’s Babar Ghauri) might not arise because there were signs of such an internal change as being reported in the media.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2014