SUKKUR: Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani has distanced himself from ongoing attempts to fan ethnic strife between Sindhis and Pathans and said that his ancestors had been living in Sindh for almost two centuries and they had now become completely Sindhis.

They would always be in the forefront to spill their blood for Sindh if things ever came to such a pass, he said.

It were the Afghan nationals who wreaked havoc on Sindh’s soil and Syed Jalal Shah, Dr Qadir Magsi, Ayaz Latif Palijo, Sanan Khan Qureshi, Riaz Ahmed Chandio and other leaders and old nationalist families fully appreciated this fact, they would never incite people to hatred for all Pathans in Sindh, remarked Durrani.

Talking to media persons after offering condolences to Amanullah Pathan over his mother’s death in Jacobabad, Durrani said that current monsoon rain had ruined standing crops and inundated cities and villages in Balochistan and Sindh.

He said in answer to a question on bills that it was Sindh government’s duty to enforce laws made by Sindh Assembly but implementation of federal government’s laws could be problematic in the province when the centre did not support or cooperate in their enforcement.

Commenting on foreign funding case against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, he said that it was an old case and the Election Commission of Pakistan should have impartially and thoroughly checked the evidence of the case.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2022