PPP MNA still disgruntled with the party

Malik Asad Sikandar criticises Jam Khan Shoro, Dr Sikandar Ali Shoro at public meeting

HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Malik Asad Sikandar, who reportedly opposed the Sindh government's alleged connivance with a real estate developer for obtaining land in Jamshoro, still appears up in arms. Sikandar, who later signaled rapprochement with the PPP's leadership after friction in July, seemingly intimated on Saturday at a public meeting in Jamshoro that the grievances were still simmering.



"If any one tried to rob rights of the people [of Jamshoro], Malik Asad Sikandar will give his head but will not back off," he declared to the supporters from Shoro community, two of whose MPAs, Jam Khan Shoro and Dr Sikandar Ali Shoro are members of the Sindh Cabinet.

The controversy involves Sikandar, a real estate developer and the PPP leadership. The conflict emerged in July when the MNA opposed the reported transfer of four revenue dehs of Jamshoro to Karachi. He also objected to the terms on which the builder was obtaining land in Jamshoro's mountainous region. He had declared that he would stand with the people of Kohistan if the provincial government took decisions against the local community.

Later, the provincial government was accused by his supporters of launching a crackdown on the businesses owned by Sikandar's supporters and removing all officers posted on his recommendation. It was also alleged that the two MPAs belonging to Shoro community, one of whom is elected from PS-47 Hyderabad and the other from PS-71 Jamshoro, were given control of Jamshoro district. However, the confrontation apparently subsided in August when Sikandar had a meeting with PPP leaders.



Sikandar criticised the two MPAs in his speech. "If Haji Siddiq Shoro and Khuda Dino Shoro were alive today, these two lads wouldn't have become disloyal," he said, adding that the support shown by the Shoro community to him in the public meeting had conveyed the message to the two MPAs about their conduct. "We will see [how they win] in the elections now," he said.

"We will stand with Sikandar even if we have to walk on a thorny path," declared Sardar Arbab Jaffar Khan Shoro, the community's leader. Former provincial minister Gianchand Esrani also spoke at the meeting.