BADIN: Sindh Home Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal has said that foolproof security measures have been taken to protect shrines across the province after the terrorist attack at Fatehpur shrine in Jhal Magsi district of Balochistan on Thursday.

Speaking to people after inaugurating the 86th Urs celebrations of revered Sufi Saint Syed Saman Shah Sarkar at his shrine near Pangrio town of Badin district on Sunday evening, the minister said Sufis always preached peace, brotherhood, tolerance and communal harmony. He said terrorists were out to shatter peace and sow hate between followers of different sects but nobody would be allowed to succeed in such nefarious designs. Every attempt to create a law and order situation in the province would be dealt with sternly, he added. Mr Siyal said that the provincial government was making all out efforts to thwart subversive acts by non-state actors and enemies of peace. They must not be allowed to stop followers of revered Sufis from disseminating the message of love, peace and inter-faith harmony.

He said the government had already taken special measures for security of shrines and devotees soon after the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine carnage in February and now after the Balochistan tragedy, security had been further tightened.

When his attention was drawn to a mess caused by police when they did not allow custodian of the Saman Sarkar shrine Syed Ali Bukhsh Shah to visit the shrine for three days before the Urs, Mr Siyal the police acted under the orders of their superiors, who were making arrangements for security at the shrine for the Urs as directed by Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

In reply to a question about ‘knifeman’, the home minister admitted that considerable panic had been created by such attacker(s) in some parts of Karachi, and said that police would be able to lay hand on those involved in the criminal act. He said Rangers were helping the police in tracking down the criminals. He said he had issued necessary directives to the provincial police chief in this regard.

MNA Sardar Kamal Chang, Mohammad Ismail Rahu, Syed Pappu Shah, Mir Allah Bukhsh Talpur, Haji Saen Bux Jamali, Taj Moh­am­mad Mallah, Moha­mmad Ramazan Chandio and other party leaders accopmanied the home minister during his visit to different areas of Badin district.

Mr Siyal also went to the residences of Syed Pappu Shah and Taj Mohammed Mallah where he spoke to party workers. He told them that there was no organised terrorist network in Sindh. He said the Sindh police had rendered great sacrifices in uprooting terrorism and crime from the province. “Actually it’s a fight against terrorist mindset,” he observed when asked to comment on the arrest of many highly educated people found involved in terrorist activities.

Home minister’s ‘curtailed’ powers

A party worker drew his attention to the problem that driving licences issued in one district were not being revalidated in other districts, the home minister said he could not order the SSPs concerned to do the needful. “I can only request the inspector general of police to issue necessary directives to the SSP concerned because a home minister now does not have powers even to transfer a police officer,” he explained. Under the recent order issued by the Sindh High Court, neither chief minister nor home secretary could pass such orders, he said, and remarked: “it’s like a parallel set-ups”.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2017