Govt out to obstruct Ghotki rally: Qureshi

Police cite security hazard in their plea for a change of venue.

ISLAMABAD:

In what appears to be an attempt to sabotage former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s upcoming rally in Ghotki on November 27, the government has allegedly stopped organisers from making the necessary arrangements, according to Qureshi himself.

“The Ghotki superintendent of police (SP) stopped my supporters near Qadirpur ground…the proposed venue for the rally in Ghotki,” Qureshi said. “We will hold the rally at all costs. It will be a decisive one.”

According to Pakistan Peoples Party Member of Provincial Assembly Abbas Rawn, the provincial government directed the Sindh inspector general police to block routes leading to Ghotki, Sukkur and interior Sindh.

Local police also blocked the Panju Bagh link road to stop thousands of Qureshi’s devotees, said the chief organiser and president of Ghausia Jamaat in Ghotki. It’s the second time, he said, police asked him to change the venue when arrangements had already been completed.

The proposed location, the Qadirpur ground, spreads over 20 acres and has the capacity to hold over 400,000 people, he told The Express Tribune. He added that 3,000 people had already reached the location and that they were hoping for over 150,000 people to attend the rally.  In total, over 1,400 jan nisars (staunch supporters) will take care of security-related matters. Local police have turned down our request regarding provision of security, he said.

Former Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid MNA Ali Nawaz Mahar and Rais Ibrahim Khan Chachar who are the main owners of the ground have provided verbal reassurances for the use of the land, organiser Irshad Qureshi added.

He said prominent leaders Mir Mumtaz Bhutto and Ghinwa Bhutto have also been invited to attend the rally and thousands of Ghausia Jamaat’s followers will welcome Bhutto family members.

Ulterior motives or security concerns?

“November 27 will become a harbinger of a new era in Ghotki,” said Qureshi, who claimed that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called local politicians of interior Sindh to stop the rally. However, Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri denied Qureshi’s allegations. When asked via text message if the provincial government had blocked the Ghotki rally she said, “No” and did not explain further.

Ghotki SP Muhammad Shah said: “We will not let Qureshi’s followers hold a rally in this ground because it will block traffic flow on the National Highway”.  “Nobody will be allowed to take the law into their own hands,” he added.  The police proposed that the Ghotki government public school be used as an alternative venue for security reasons, the SP said. He explained further that the school venue would allow law enforcement agencies to chalk out a security plan. Shah added that the home department has been approached as the organisers are persisting in holding the rally on the National Highway, which presents a security hazard.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2011.