KARACHI, June 19: Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Jam Madad Ali has urged the Pakistan People’s Party leadership to “write a new chapter in the history of Sindh” by shunning the politics of vendetta.

“Put an end to this practice of the past and serve the people and the province in the new situation with a renewed spirit,” he said on Thursday.

Mr Ali, who was speaking at a press conference after the first day session of general discussion on the new financial year’s budget, referred to the incidents of registration of FIRs against District Nazim of Umerkot Manghan Mangrio and Taluka Nazim of Tando Bago Syed Hamid Shah Rashdi. Both nazims, he said, belonged to the PML-F and had never been involved in victimisation of PPP men.

Mr Ali, who is also leader of the PML-F parliamentary party, said Law Minister Ayaz Soomro had given an assurance on the floor of the house that he would hold an independent inquiry into the registration of FIRs and that he hoped that the minister would keep his word.

Contesting the statement of PPP MPA Ali Mardan Shah in the house that an FIR was lodged by the Sindh News TV channel people for damaging their equipment and manhandling staff, he wondered how the TV management could go for registering an FIR against the chief guest at their own function who had left the venue after giving away prizes. How he could be implicated in the hooliganism that took place at the function after the nazim had left the place, the MPA asked.

Jam Madad said that the ruling party’s MPAs, who had delivered speeches on Thursday, had conceded that with the passage of time the law and order situation was deteriorating and no one appeared to be satisfied with it.

He regretted that the law minister or the speaker did not respond in a positive manner when, through a point of order, he had drawn the attention of the house to the treatment meted out to eminent social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi, who was served with notices by the provincial auqaf department for payment of tax and rent of the property in the Edhi Trust’s use.

Demanding that the government give top priority to the security of Mr Edhi, he said instead of ignoring his point of order the law minister could have given an assurance about conducting an inquiry into the matter.

Mr Ali appealed to the government that keeping in view the services of the eminent social worker, the Auqaf properties in the use Edhi be given to him free.

In reply to a question, he said that not only Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza but also more than half of the cabinet members were not present in the house. Likewise, in the governor’s gallery there were only a few secretaries who also had left when the chief minister had gone and the speaker had to take notice of it and felt the need to direct the law minister to ensure the presence of the secretaries in the house.