Sindh governor asks PM Imran to remove ‘biased’ provincial police chief
Sindh Governor Imran Ismail met Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday and asked him to remove the Sindh police chief, calling him “biased”.
In an informal talk with reporters after a meeting with the premier in Islamabad, Ismail said he had sought the removal of Sindh Inspector General Mushtaq Mahar "because of his biased approach".
“He (the IG) filed a case against one of our leaders for clicking a picture of a canal. Is this really an offence warranting a police case?” the Sindh governor asked, without naming to whom he was referring.
A day ago, PTI leader and opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh had also demanded that the federal government transfer the Sindh IG and chief secretary, though for a different reason, saying they had failed to implement the Covid-19 lockdown in its true spirit in Karachi.
Ismail today said he had also apprised Prime Minister Imran of the water issues in Sindh. “The prime minister has given assurance of fair distribution of water to Sindh and the province will not be deprived of its right,” Ismail added.
The water dispute emerged recently when the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) said it reviewed the overall water situation on May 28 and decided to apply 32 per cent shortages to the two larger provinces — Sindh and Punjab — instead of 23pc shortage at present.
Irsa had originally estimated about 10pc shortage for the early part of Kharif, but then temperatures did not rise in the northern areas of the country and river flows continued to drop. Irsa said that with 32pc shortage, the water share for Punjab was reduced to 83,000 cusecs, while Sindh was allocated 74,000 cusecs.
Ismail also told reporters that the federal government had decided to address the reservations of Sindh government on the Bundal Island project.
He said the concerns of nationalist leaders on the island would also be addressed. “It was our mistake not taking nationalist leaders into confidence on the matter," he ackowledged.
The governor said the Bundal Island project would ultimately benefit Sindh.
