SUKKUR: Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that a bill against the presidential ordinance on islands and coasts will be tabled shortly in Sindh Assembly as the ordinance is “unconstitutional and unlawful”.

He said at a press conference at local press club on Thursday that islands and coastline were Sindh’s properties. Some provisions in the ordinance sounded highly dictatorial and arbitrary as they deprived locals of their birthrights, he said.

He slammed issuance of warrant for arrest of former president Asif Ali Zardari and said the centre was taking decisions in haste before scheduled public meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.

He said the Oct 18 rally led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would prove to be a referendum against the incompetent government and the prime minister himself would soon tender his resignation or ask the president to dissolve assemblies.

He said that even if all the parties decided to tender resignation it would not solve the problem. Their struggle was aimed at ridding people of the inefficient government.

The minister said that wheat crop was cultivated according to the country’s needs but most of it was smuggled due to inefficiency of federal government, which was responsible for stopping its transportation to foreign countries. Earlier in Jacobabad, the minister said that he was unaware about arrests of nationalists during province-wide strike. If people had been arrested they would be freed soon, he said.

The minister told journalists on Wednesday evening that if the federal government was sincere it should table the islands’ ordinance in National Assembly and Senate for debate. If the centre desired betterment of Sindh’s people then it should present its plan to the provincial government.

He said in reply to a question that federal government was passing the buck to Sindh government to hide its inefficiency in ensuring food security. It was federal government’s responsibility to stop smuggling of the grain to foreign countries, he said.

He alleged the federal government’s own people were involved in this smuggling. A few months ago, the federal government exported wheat at cheap price but now it was importing it at costly rate.

He said that price of wheat flour, pulses and ghee was on the increase in the country due to inefficiency of the federal government and if somebody raised voice over it then he or she was accused of seeking NRO from them.

He said that whenever the prime minister took notice of an issue it had further deteriorated. The PPP government had always tried to keep inflation in check because it directly affected the poor, he claimed.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2020