THATTA: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that Sindh has strong reservations over census as it puts the province’s population at around 47 million while it is actually more than 60 million.

Sindh would once again raise the issue in next meeting of the Council of Common Interests. Not only Sindh but Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to some extent had also raised objections over the census in the CCI meeting, said the chief minister while talking to media persons after attending Chehlum of former provincial minister Syed Ijaz Ali Shah Shirazi here on Sunday.

He said in answer to a question about recruitment of teachers in 2012 that whenever case of recruitment of more teachers against limited vacancies surfaced the jobs would be cleared after verification and scrutiny because Pakistan Peoples Party believed in providing jobs and it did not want to deprive anyone of jobs.

About foreign funding case of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, he said that in his view it was an open and shut case. Everything had become crystal clear before people and now the Election Commission of Pakistan had to give its decision, he said.

The encroachments on the land of historical Makli necropolis would never be allowed and he had sought reports from the officers concerned of the culture department and deputy commissioner of Thatta on the issue, said the chief minister.

He said that he had asked the officers to take action against the culprits involved in land grabbing and ensure that no damage occurred to the necropolis which was a world heritage site.

He said that PTI leaders conveniently put blame on previous governments for every failure but were quick to take credit for the past governments’ good work. People had now understood them and they knew everything, he said.

The constitution was quite clear in this regard that all elections would be conducted through secret ballot except the election for of the prime minister and chief minister, he said.

Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani said that Ijaz Shah served people wholeheartedly without any discrimination and he used to treat everyone equally.

Sindh Minister for Information and Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, son of late Ijaz Shah MNA Syed Ayaz Ali Shah Shirazi, MPA Syed Riaz Hussain Shah Shirazi, MPA Syed Shah Hussain Shah Shirazi, MPA Imdad Ali Pitafi, Taj Haider, Waqar Mehdi, Mohammad Ali Malkani, Arbab Wazir Memon, Hyderabad DIG Sharjeel Kharal, political and social activists attended the Chehlum.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2021