LARKANA: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf parliamentary party leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh has expressed his astonish­ment over Monday’s meeting betw­een Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and convicted Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat jail, saying that the former has shook hands with the bitter critic of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, “for a nexus”.

Mr Shaikh, who is leading the ‘Defence of Pakistan train march’, spoke to the media and audience at a reception hosted by Saifullah Abro in Qambar town and participants of the march late on Monday evening during the journey through Sindh. He said the meeting between the two leaders appeared to be “enigmatic”.

“Thieves have joined hands,” he remarked, and expressed his confidence that the masses would reject corrupt elements.

He alleged that PPP deprived people of Sindh of basic facilities, pointing out that poverty and hunger situation was aggravating while joblessness was on the rise. He noted that Larkana, which was the constituency of Mr Bhutto-Zardari, was faced with worst-ever unhygienic conditions. Qambar, which was the constituency of his aunt, Faryal Talpur, did not even get safe drinking water, he added.

MPA Shaikh alleged that the PPP government in Sindh siphoned off Rs5,000 billion over its 10-year rule. He held the party responsible for all ills the city of Larkana was facing today. He claimed that Rs115bn were plundered in the name of development in Larkana.

“Now time has come when corruption kings from Sindh will be accounted for,” he said.

He thanked the masses for according a warm welcome to the train march participants, and said that all provinces fully backed national institutions in the face of Indian aggression. “It’s heartening to see that all national institutions today are on the same page,” he said.

Mr Shaikh on Tuesday visited Faisal Colony in Larkana where people complained to him about insanitation and apprised him of a host of other issues. They complained about indifference on the part of Larkana mayor, elected representatives and municipal officers towards their civic issues.

Speaking to the people gathered in Dadu to welcome the train march participants upon their arrival in the city, Haleem Adil Shaikh said that the entire nation was united to counter the enemy that dared to violate Pakistan’s frontiers.

He thanked the people of Dadu, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar for according a warm welcome to the marchers in their respective cities. The marchers, in a motorised procession, passed through the city and converged on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan before resuming their journey by train.

They offered special prayers for the solidarity and integrity of the country at the shrine.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2019

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