SUKKUR: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that nobody can stop him from going abroad for official visits or pilgrimage.

“Can anyone stop me if I have to perform Haj or Umra; or ziaraat in Iraq?” he asked.

The chief minister was speaking to the media after attending the Valima ceremony of former MPA Syed Jawed Ali Shah’s son here on Sunday.

He said he had undertaken just a couple of private foreign tours so far since becoming the chief minister. “By the way, I don’t intend to go abroad in near future,” he added.

Mr Shah said he was not worried about placement of his name on the exit control list (ECL).

Apparently referring to Local Govt Minister Saeed Ghani’s recent statement regarding a tit-for-tat action over foreign travel ban on the CM and certain other PPP leaders, Mr Shah said there would be no disruption in the prime minister’s or any federal minister’s visit to Sindh on the part of the provincial government.

“Imran Khan is the Prime Minister of the country; he is free to go anywhere he wants to go,” the CM said.

Commenting on alleged moves to dislodge his government, Mr Shah said the Sindh government would stay until it enjoyed support of the masses and PPP leadership. He said no conspiracy against his government would succeed. “Those sitting in Islamabad ought to tell me which of his or his government’s act had actually angered them,” he added.

In reply to a question, he said it was the media that keenly projected the unparliamentary language uttered guests at various programmes and other people. “If the media stops this practice, the trend will certainly die down,” he argued.

Answering a question about future of military courts, the chief minister said that his party had already conveyed its stance on the subject to the authorities concerned.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2019