LARKANA, Nov 2: The leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, has criticized the appointment of nine additional judges in the Sindh High Court. Talking to Dawn at his residence here on Wednesday, he regretted that only two of the appointed judges were Sindhi.

He claimed that the advocates who had been made judges did not meet the criteria of at least 50 cases reported in Pakistan Legal Decision publications. He added that the two Sindhi judges were senior and their period of stay in the bench would be shorter.

Mr Khuhro said that earlier, according to his information, appointment of six non-Sindhi and five Sindhi judges had been recommended but instead of striking a balance, the president appointed more non-Sindhi judges.

About the law and order situation in Karachi, the PPP leader said it was alarming that between Oct 8 and Oct 31, eight workers of the Sunni Tehrik were killed in Karachi. He said even Sunni Tehrik workers who were collecting relief goods for earthquake victims were killed at their camps.

He criticized the Sindh government for its failure to maintain law and order in Karachi and called for ensuring peace in the city.

Referring to Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain’s statement calling for peace, Mr Khuhro said he should look into reasons why peace was not prevailing in Karachi.

Answering a question, he said the Sindh government had lost credibility which was evident from what he called fresh signs of mistrust between the Sindh governor and the chief minister over the language issue.

He said it looked strange that the chief minister being the chief executive of the province was bypassed while issuing a notification about the Sindhi language by the ministry of education.

He said the disharmony between the governor and the chief minister over the Sindhi language bill was also evident from the fact that the Sindh home minister had opted not to attend a Sindh Assembly session to evade questions about the issue.

He said the treasury benches were wasting time during sessions.

About the preparedness of the PPP for the forthcoming general election, he said his party was fully prepared to contest the polls and prove that despite odds it was the only popular political party of the country.

Replying to a question, he said there was no room in the PPP for traitors and turncoats who had betrayed the party in the recent local body election.