Hunting trip: Ahead of PTI rally, Agha Siraj pays Ghotki sardar a visit

MNA Faryal Talpur is also expected to visit Sardar Ali Gohar Mahar soon.

SUKKUR: Agha Siraj Durrani of the Pakistan Peoples Party made a trip to Ghotki on Wednesday in what may have been an attempt to woo Sardar Ali Gohar Mahar.

The visit comes mere days before former PPP leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi is scheduled to attend a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf rally in the area.

Qureshi’s defection came up during Durrani’s visit. He told the media at Khangarh and Ghotki that it would barely cause a ripple in the grand scheme of things. He maintained that the PPP is a big party and Qureshi’s resignation would cause no harm.

But for all intents and purposes, Durrani was in the area on a hunting trip and a personal visit to his friend, Sardar Mahar. He confirmed that he has given Sardar Mahar the president’s message about helping the government to bring about a change for the better and development in the country. However, he claimed that the message was not for the sardar alone, but for the entire nation. It is rumoured that Durrani’s trip was an attempt to ask the sardar to use his influence to sabotage Qureshi’s November 27 address in Ghotki, or at least tell his men to stay away from the meeting. This may prove difficult, however, because Qureshi has a large following of diehard supporters in the district.

Durrani was quick to deny suggestions, however, that he was meeting Sardar Mahar in an attempt to disrupt Qureshi’s upcoming public meeting in Ghotki. “We are democratic people and everybody has the right to express their views,” he said. “It was army dictator, General Zia-ul Haq, who used to stop political parties from holding public meetings.”

Durrani’s visit to Khangarh could also serve as a preamble to MNA Faryal Talpur’s expected visit to the area. It is expected that, if everything goes according to plan, Sardar Mahar might declare his loyalty for the PPP after meeting with Talpur.

For his part, Sardar Mahar stressed that he was not affiliated with a political party at present and Durrani’s visit was purely a hunting trip and not political. The sardar was otherwise affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Q. He is the brother of Ali Mohammad Mahar, who was the CM of Sindh before Arbab Ghulam Rahim. The sardar is also related to Ghous Bux Mahar of Shikarpur.

Durrani also visited PPP Ghotki taluka president Sikandar Lakho at his house.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th,  2011.