SUKKUR: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has opposed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposal vis-a-vis granting of nationality/naturalisation to the children of illegal immigrants settled in the country.

He was speaking to the media at Sukkur airport on Friday during his aerial visit by a helicopter to various areas including Larkana, Khairpur, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Ghotki and Sukkur districts. He expressed his satisfaction over the security arrangements for maintaining law and order on the Ashura day across Sindh and appreciated the law enforcement agencies for their efficiency due to which no untoward incident took place anywhere in the province.

Responding to the media’s queries about the prime minister’s suggestion to grant nationality to certain illegal immigrants’ children, Mr Shah expressed his government’s strong reservations over any such offer. “Had there been any provision in the Constitution or law, it [the Sindh government] would have no objection in offering nationality to the aliens living here [in Pakistan] unlawfully”, he said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan must consider the possible repercussions for the country if such aliens were adopted through this procedure, the chief minister said, adding that the premier would have to give up the idea in view of strong reservations over it as expressed by opposition in the parliament.

Referring to the PM’s argument that neither the state disowned nor could it deport them, the chief minister warned that granting them nationality would create a more serious situation for the country.

“Taking practical measures to resolve issues and achieve desired results is absolutely different from having and expressing views in public speeches,” he said.

CM Shah also expressed his concern over the “mini budget” unveiled by the federal government and noted that it was bound to push up inflation as taxes and domestic gas rates had been exorbitantly increased.

“The [ruling] PTI has now started realising how difficult it is to run a government with the available resources,” he remarked.

New dams’ issue

In reply to a question about new dams, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah repeated his government’s stance that availability of water must be assessed first before going for any dam.

He explained that it was for Sindh to see if adequate water was available at the head of a proposed dam for the province’s irrigation and drinking needs. “The fast depleting Indus delta is a major source of concern for Sindh at the moment,” he pointed out, and said the province would have to see whether Thatta and Badin districts could afford blocking of their water for dams.

Mr Shah said Sindh was already experiencing an acute shortage of water and his government was considering several schemes to overcome it. Such schemes, he said, pertained to ensure optimum utilisation of available water through lining of irrigation channels and preventing rainwater from going waste by adopting wise practices.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2018