SUKKUR: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that banned organisations, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban and the Balochistan Liberation Army, are fighting along with dacoits in the katcha area of Ghotki with the police who have launched an operation against criminals.

He said this while speaking at a press conference here on Sunday after presiding over a meeting regarding law and order in the Sukkur region with the commandant of Rangers, the deputy inspector general of police, deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police.

The CM said that in the Ghotki operation, criminals were equipped with modern weapons while the police were using old weapons. He said he had spoken to the army chief in that regard and the army chief had sought a list of required weapons and on receipt of such weapons and equipment, they would be provided to the police.

He said that the Rangers and the police were carrying out the operation against criminals and the government needed the army’s help only for weapons.

He said now the law and order situation in the Sukkur region had improved as earlier scores of people had been kidnapped in the region and now only a man had been kidnapped, who had also been recovered.

He said that intelligence agencies had got evidences of involvement of the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in the Karachi carnage, adding that Pakistani intelligence agencies had never got any wrong reports.

He said that criticism by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan of the Sindh government was unjustified because only a single incident had taken place here in Karachi while in Peshawar every day some kind of incident or an explosion was happening, but he did not criticise the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for it.

He said criticism for the sake of criticism would not be tolarated.

He said first Imran Khan should improve law and order in his own province then criticise others.

Talking about the National Finance Commission Award, the CM said that the federal government had given Rs360 million less as Sindh’s share.

He said that a water scheme for Karachi was to cost Rs5 billion and such big schemes were with the Executive Committee of National Economic Council of the federal government and the federal government paid 50 per cent of such scheme, while the remaining 50 per cent was paid by the concerned province.

He said: “We have the funds, but the federal government did not pay the funds.”

He added that traders and journalists criticised the Sindh government while the opposition was demanding the resignation, but they would not bow down.

Speaking about former Sindh home minister Zulfikar Mirza, he said journalists had encouraged Zulfikar Mirza, although he was unable to do it by himself.

He said that Mr Mirza was talking against the PPP leadership, but it was beyond comprehension on whose directives he remained silent for two years and now he had started to speak up.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play