KARACHI: Leaders belonging to the opposition Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) on Friday expressed their concern over “rampant incidence of corruption” in Sindh and demanded that the prime minister and Sindh governor play their part in eradicating corrupt practices in the province.

“During today’s meeting of the GDA, we have demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan and Governor Imran Ismail to take notice of the incessant corruption in Sindh and take appropriate action to root it out,” said GDA leader Ayaz Latif Palijo while briefing reporters about the meeting of the alliance held at Kingri House.

The meeting, presided over by Pir Pagara, was also attended by former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza, Dr Safdar Abbasi, Pir Sadruddin Shah Rashdi and other leaders.

NAB asked to go after ‘big fish’

Mr Palijo said the meeting also called upon the National Accountability Bureau to take action against the “big fish” involved in corruption.

The GDA demanded that the provincial government provide jobs to unemployed youths in various government departments and establish more industrial zones.

A coordination committee has been formed to raise province’s issues with the federal govt

The meeting demanded child protection cells to ensure protection to vulnerable children.

They were concerned over the scarcity of water and incidence of HIV in epidemic proportions in the northern parts of the province and called for devising effective policies to handle those issues effectively.

Besides, protection for girls — both belonging to Muslim and non-Muslim communities — was also demanded.

The meeting formed a coordination committee comprising Pir Sadruddin Shah Rashdi, Mr Palijo, Dr Mirza and others to contact the federal government and parliamentarians in Islamabad over the issues relating to Sindh.

Mr Palijo said on one hand people in the province were “dying in search of water like the Kachho region” while on the other there were serious dangers inflicting Sindh in shape of floods if rains came as dangerously as predicted by the Meteorological department. “There is a serious threat to a big part of Sindh, coastal regions in particular, [of floods] if it rains as predicted.”

Ghotki by-poll termed ‘engineered & rigged’

He claimed the recent by-election on a vacant National Assembly seat in Ghotki, which was won by the Pakistan Peoples Party candidate, was “engineered and rigged”.

“They [PPP leadership and workers] are jubilant on winning an election which they had only won through rigging and managing the police force,” he said.

He said the meeting also expressed its concern over increasing law and order problem in the province.

Speaking on the occasion, Pir Sadruddin Rashdi said the meeting discussed all issues ranging from the province to the prime minister’s “successful” visit to the United States.

“We have not yet called for change in Sindh. We’ll not call for a change in whispers; because whenever we will want to call for a change we’ll duly announce it through the media,” he said.

He said the GDA leadership was happy to see “the civil and military leaderships on the same page”.

“We hope the country will see good days again soon and days are not far when everyone will have equally patriotic thinking,” he said.

Dr Mirza said the ruling PPP had “destroyed entire Sindh”. He said the city of Badin that formed his constituency was deliberately turned into ruins only to take revenge on people for not voting for PPP candidates.

Dr Abbasi claimed there was no city in Sindh that the ruling party had not destroyed.

He claimed 88 per cent of the people in the province were drinking water not fit for human consumption.

He said the issue of water was equally worse in Karachi.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2019