KARACHI, Dec 1: Leader of the opposition in the Sindh assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has demanded upward revision of minimum wages in line with the increase in legislators’ honorarium.
Mr Khuhro, who is provincial chief of the Pakistan People’s Party, was addressing a rally, organized to mark the PPP’s 37th founding day, in Memon Goth on Sunday.
While making this demand, much to the annoyance of some of the PPP MNAs and MPAs, Mr Khuhro referred to the 117 per cent increase in the salaries of MNAs and MPAs and said wages of poor people be raised with same ratio as they were the worst sufferer.
Although many elected representatives of the PPP were not preset at the founding day function, organized by district president Sher Mohammad Baloch and general secretary Abdullah Murad (MPA), those present were perturbed over Mr Khuhro’s remarks.
They completely missed the point made by their provincial chief. Their reservations on his demand only reflected their self-centred attitude and corporate interest rather than the interest of general public.
Mr Khuhro, among other things, had said the government had increased salaries of MNAs and MPAs who were not starving but the poor people, who were virtually starving and forced to commit suicide, and who deserved this increase, had been neglected.
If Mr Khuhro’s demand is met, the minimum wages would jump to Rs 5,500 from the existing Rs2,500 per month. He accused the government of dividing the people.
Speaking on the occasion, the party’s deputy secretary general Senator Raza Rabbani rejected rumours of any deal with the government as ‘misleading’ and described them as part of the government’s disinformation campaign aimed at dividing the nation and political parties.
He categorically declared that neither the PPP Parliamentarians chief and ARD chairman, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, nor any other leader of the party had been vested with such authority.
Mr Rabbani said that the PPP had never come to power through secret deal with the military rulers. He expressed his confidence that the PPP would again be at the helm with the support of masses. He also rejected the LFO and declared that if the PPP and ARD were not taken into confidence over MMA’s deal with the government, his party would not accept any such agreement.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah accused the government of bulldozing democratic dispensation, mutilating Constitution and suppressing rights of the people and the voice of dissent.
He was of the view that owing to the government policies, sense of deprivation among citizens had increased.
He, like others, vowed to remain clinched to the ideas of the PPP founder late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and urged the party cadre to organize themselves for a much difficult struggle for democracy in the coming days.
Syed Khurshid Shah, criticizing the regime, said that after frequent meddling in political dispensation, the military leadership had become a party and should have the courage to face criticism.
The meeting, which was also addressed by Taj Haider, Manzoor Wassan, N. D. Khan, Pir Aftab Shah Jilani, Abdul Sattar Bachani, Agha Siraj Durrani, Rashid Rabbani, Habibuddin Junedi and others, adopted several resolutions, reiterating a firm commitment to the ideas of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It was demanded that achievements of Mr Bhutto, such as establishment of Pakistan Steel, Kanupp, HMC Taxila, release of over 90,000 prisoners of war and development of nuclear technology, etc, should be included the syllabus of schools and colleges.
The PPP activists demanded withdrawal of cases against the PPP chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, and pledged to continue their struggle against such politics of vengeance pursued by the regime. They also demanded release of Asif Zardari, languishing in jail for the last seven years.