GDA slams Sindh govt over IG’s transfer

The parliamentary leader of Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) Barrister Hasnain Mirza on Thursday lashed out at the Sindh government for transferring IG Sindh Mushtaq Mahar without consulting other political parties in Sindh Assembly.

Addressing a news conference along with other GDA leaders, including Irfanullah Marwat, Arif Mustafa Jatoi and Nusrat Sehar Abbasi, he said, “It is a blatant violation of the rules and orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan to transfer the IG before he completed his three years in office.”

Mirza said that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who had miserably failed to maintain law and order in the province, especially in Karachi, instead of focusing on the core issues had got IG Mahar transferred for political reasons.

He said that that as per the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan in the case of former IG Sindh AD Khowaja, the chief minister has been avoiding calling the meetings of Sindh Police Public Safety Commission for past many months. Before removing the provincial chief of police, it was mandatory to decide his transfer and posting in the meeting of the commission in the light of the verdict of the apex court, he said.

Hasnani Mirza also lashed out at high-ups of the Sindh government for their alleged failure to ensure just and judicious water distribution among the farmers of the province.

“The water share of the tail-end growers and farmers of Rohri Canal is being diverted towards the lands of the influential landlords of Tando Allahyar District, and farmers and the common who are deprived of their water share for the past many months are on the roads,” he said.

The GDA leader pointed out that everybody knew whose lands were being irrigated in Tando Allahyar and other districts while the people in the coastal belt and other tail-end areas were being deprovided of even drinking water.

He warned to besiege the CM House in Karachi if the irrigation water was not judiciously shared among the farming community of the province.

He asked Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro to clarify his position since the federal minister for Water Resources was also the senior leader of his party.

The other GDA leaders lashed out at the PPP rulers in Sindh for their “flawed policies and rampant corruption in every department”. They said that GDA chief Pir Sahab Pagara had already clearly shown his stance over the prevalent political situation in the country.

Hanif Samoon is a senior journalist based at Thar/Badin and contributes reports from different districts of Sindh to Minute Mirror. He has won a number of awards, including the Agahi Award twice for his stories on health and child rights. He tweets @HanifSamoon1 and can be reached through email at [email protected]