SUKKUR: Sindh Minister for Irrigation, Prisons, Works and Services Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that instead of the much vaunted tsunami of progress the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has triggered a tsunami of destruction and even the party’s allies in federal government are unhappy at the poor show put up by the ruling party.

Mr Shah said at a press conference at the Sukkur press club on Saturday that PTI leaders acted like ‘Gullu Butt’ because they had been given the government in alms. The federal government had failed to bring any improvement so far, he said.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced Rs62 billion worth package for Karachi but nobody knew where the amount had gone. Sindh government had opened several units of NICVD across the province and now the federal government had issued a notification to take their possession, he said.

He said the National Accountability Bureau chairman’s scandal was his personal issue but what was more disturbing was the NAB chief’s admission that some important files were missing from his house in ministers’ enclave.

Mr Shah said that it was sad influential landlords were irrigating their land but no water was reaching tail-end areas to irrigate poor peasants’ farmland. The government was taking necessary steps for the repairs and maintenance of Sukkur Barrage, he said.

A day before, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari accompanied by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Awais Qadir Shah, Abdul Bari Pitafi, Sohail Anwar Sial and other PPP leaders visited Khangarh to condole the death of former chief minister Sardar Ali Mohammad Khan Mahar with his brothers MPA Sardar Ali Gohar Khan Mahar, MPA Ali Nawaz aka Raja Khan Mahar, adviser to chief minister Sardar Mohammad Bux Khan Mahar, Ghotki district council chairman Haji Khan Mahar and son of the deceased Sardar Ahmed Ali Khan Mahar.

Bilawal said in his brief talk to media on the occasion that they had family relations with Mahar Sardars and he was very sad at Ali Mohammad Mahar’s sudden death.

He condemned terrorist attack on a mosque in Quetta on Friday and stressed implementation of National Action Plan in letter and spirit. PPP had a clear policy against terrorism and extremism, he said.

He said that prime minister had not so far called a meeting of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA). The government must pay attention to rise in terrorism incidents in Balochistan, he said.

PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen also arrived at Khangarh by a helicopter on Saturday and condoled death of Sardar Ali Mohammad Khan Mahar with his brothers, son and other senior members of the Mahar clan.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2019