KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that there is nothing serious against him in the joint investigation team (JIT) report for which he could be prosecuted.

He said that subsidies had been given on different items such as tractor, electricity, wheat and sugar cane as per law after approval of the cabinet and enacted by the assembly.

He also termed the law and order situation far better than in the past when dozens of bodies used to be found daily in the province, particularly in Karachi.

“Peace has been restored to the city by the PPP government with the army, police and Rangers,” he remarked.

The chief minister stated this while speaking to the media at the mausoleum of the Quaid-i-Azam where he visited with Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and members of his cabinet to pay homage to the Father of the Nation on the occasion of his birth anniversary on Tuesday.

‘Peace has been restored to the city by the PPP government with the army, police and the Rangers’

Responding to questions after laying a wreath, offering Fateha and recording his impressions in the visitor’s book, the chief minister said that the government had done each and everything as per law.

He said the provincial government had been giving subsidies since 2008-9 after summaries of the subsidies had been moved and approved as per rules [of business], approval by the cabinet and the assembly had enacted the law. This has been acknowledged in the [JIT] report, he said.

He said that the provincial government had given subsidy to power plants to reduce loadshedding duration, gave subsidy on tractors to strengthen small farmers, gave subsidy of Rs12 per maund on sugar cane and was giving subsidy on wheat since long.

He added that there was a prolonged loadshedding of 18 to 20 hours in the province and therefore the power plants were given subsidy so that loadshedding duration could be controlled. He questioned what was wrong in it and added that “all this has been approved within the ambit of the law”.

Responding to a question, the chief minister said that the JIT report had been submitted in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and “there are some controversial disclosures in it [JIT report] which will be defended in the court of law and will also be discussed [with media].”

The chief minister said that he was surprised to note that the JIT report was leaked to the media much before it was submitted in the Supreme Court.

“A TV anchor conducted my interview on JIT report at least five days before it was officially submitted in the court,” he said and added “to leak the JIT report is wrong and against directives of the Supreme Court”.

However he expressed the hope that the Supreme Court and agencies concerned would take necessary action against the officers who had leaked the JIT report.

Responding to another question, he said that he had gone through the JIT report but there was nothing serious against him in it for which he could be prosecuted.

“We as a government have done each and everything as per law which has been acknowledged in the [JIT] report.”

He pointed out that the JIT had also conceded that they could not complete the investigation within two months even then fingers of accusation had been raised [against the government], which was ‘quite surprising’ for him.

Targeted killings

Replying to a question about recent incident of targeted killings in Karachi, the chief minister said that they were being probed thoroughly and the culprits would be brought to book.

“After the incident of Army Public School in Peshawar we had launched an intelligence based well-organised targeted operation against terrorists, targeted killers and extortionists in the city,” he said and added Army, Rangers, police and the intelligence agencies worked day and night and eliminated all terrorists and their networks, otherwise every day dozens of people were being killed in the targeted attacks in the city.

He said they had visited the Mazar-i-Quaid to reiterate their commitment to work for a prosper Pakistan.

“Today is the birth anniversary of father of nation and we are here [at the mausoleum] to pay tribute to him and reiterate our commitment to maintain law and order, work in health and education sectors and make Pakistan, particularly Sindh a healthy, wealthy and peaceful province.”

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2018