UMERKOT: Acting upon a directive given to him by Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah on Tuesday intervened to settle a property dispute in Umerkot, where police had allegedly manhandled women and children to dispossess some 20 families.

The minister met the families and assured them of appropriate action against the personnel found involved in alleged excesses. He also promised a fair inquiry into the dispute over ownership of the property and an amicable settlement acceptable to the rival sides.

The affected families had held a sit-in soon after the incident last Friday (Feb 26) accusing the police personnel of having dragged women and children out of their homes and causing physical harm to many occupants.

The police maintained that they had tried to dispossess the families on a court order, but the occupants put up resistance.

The PPP chairman took notice of the incident and asked the education minister to settle the dispute. Sardar Shah on Tuesday proceeded to the disputed plot in Sultan Chowk, Afghan Mohalla, and heard grievances of the affected families, belonging to the Solangi community. He was informed that their dispute was with certain litigants belonging to the Shah community.

After ascertaining details about the actual dispute and the Feb 26 episode, the minister promised not only action against those police personnel found involved in the alleged excesses, but also offered his mediation in a peaceful and acceptable solution to the property dispute.

“An inquiry into the alleged police excesses is underway; no institution is above the law; injustice in the name of legal action cannot be accepted,” he told the families, and remarked: “Disrespecting womenfolk is against our traditions and, thus, will not be tolerated”.

Mr Shah said that a committee would be formed after the upcoming Eid to review the property documents and claims of both parties so that a fair decision could be taken. He pledged Sindh government’s full support to the affected families.

Later, talking to media personnel, the minister criticised certain elements for their attempts to politicise the matter with the aim of creating unrest among communities in the area. They were using social media to turn the situation tense, he observed.

He noted that during the affected families’ sit-in, Umerkot District Council’s Vice Chairman Mian Khalid Walhari and PPP’s District Vice Presi­dent Burhanuddin Kunbhar had held negotiations with the protesters and assured them of required support after which the protest was ended. He also appreciated the efforts put in by Municipal Committee Chair­man Haji Saifullah Khalid, Siraj Soomro and other officials in ensuring a settlement of the dispute.

“If legal issues may cause hindrances in allowing the families to continue residing at the current location, the deputy commissioner and his administration would be directed to provide suitable plots near the city to the affected Solangi families so that they could live there peacefully and keep their livelihood with dignity,” the minister said.

He clarified that such an arrangement, if made, would not be in lieu of the disputed property, but an accommodation to be allotted by government.

He further clarified that if the property’s current occupants’ legal right to keep it was established, then they would not be dispossessed.

The affected families expressed their gratitude to the minister and PPP chairman for their support in the matter.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2026