Haleem takes exception to removal of 150 names from ECL

Says removal of names of ‘robbers’ of billions of rupees is like cheating country

Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh on Sunday took exception to the removal of 150 names from the exit control list (ECL), saying that the names of the most wanted criminals involved in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cases have been removed from the list.

Haleem, in a video statement, said that the removal of names of robbers of billions of rupees was like cheating with the country because their names were placed on the ECL so that they could not run away with the plundered money.

“They have made it happen, and the conspiracy of the thieves has succeeded. But the nation will never forgive the imported rulers who came in power by accepting US slavery,” he alleged.

He said that Pakistani people would see the removed names and “they will find that Rana Sanaullah removed the name of Rana Sanaullah from ECL.”

“The NRO is given and taken and now these thieves will abolish NAB and then flee from Pakistan as they know that Imran Khan will come into power again with significant support of people,” he said, urging the nation to wake up.

Haleem said that international financial institutions have directed Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to do away with subsidies given by the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government which would result in an unprecedented rise in inflation in Pakistan.

“Will PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who had criticised the PTI government for entering into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), tell where Miftah Ismail had been and for what purpose he had been there?” Haleem asked.

Meanwhile, on PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s call for an Islamabad march, a programme was organised in the Dhani Bakhsh Goth area of PS-99. The leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly and a large number of PTI office-bearers, workers and the general public participated in the programme. They expressed solidarity with Imran Khan and chanted slogans against the federal government.

Addressing the participants, Haleem said that every patriotic Pakistani was ready to respond to the call by Imran Khan as “we will not tolerate any bargaining on the integrity of the country”.

He claimed that drone strikes on Pashtuns were carried out during the regime of the former rulers while Imran Khan responded to the US with a clear narrative of “absolutely not”.

The PTI leader said that every conspiracy against the homeland will be thwarted, and conspiratorial elements will be defeated by a nation that does not accept slavery.

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]