Dozens of people, displaced by this year’s flood in Dera Ghazi Khan district, on Tuesday protested against the government for failing to take care of them.
A group of people had gathered outside the Circuit House on hearing that Governor Latif Khan Khosa would be in town to distribute relief goods. The protesters complained that the government had not taken any steps to rehabilitate them even though a month had passed since the flood. The governor, however, left after handing out only a few bags of food.
During a press conference at the Circuit House, Khosa criticised the Punjab government for appointing the people “who had been responsible for the vast devastation in the 2010 floods” to important posts.
He said the Seraiki belt could not prosper unless “those sitting on Takht-i-Lahore are overthrown”.
Earlier, Khosa –talking with reporters at the Multan Airport – criticised Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders for ‘trying to divide the country’ by supporting nationalist Sindhis and Sardar Akhtar Megal’s six-point agenda. He said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was responsible for the “economic massacre” of people of south Punjab. He said the PML-N was exploiting them because it was opposed to the creation of a new South Punjab province.
He demanded that the Supreme Court decide on the Mehran Bank scandal “before Asghar Khan passes away ”so that the country might be rid of “anti-Pakistan politicians”.
Khosa said Pakistan People’s Party would establish a Seraiki province, keeping the people’s wishes in mind.
The governor called for resumption of talks with Baloch leaders to redress grievances of the people of Balochistan. “The Baloch are our brothers and sisters and they are patriots,” he said.
To a question, Khosa said that it was the PPP-led government that had apologised to the Baloch for their exploitation at the hands of previous governments. “We introduced the Aaghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochistan package to address the mistreatment of the people of the province,” he said, adding that the PPP government would be the one to find a solution to Balochistan’s problems.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Rana Farooq Saeed, Prime Minister’s Media Ccoordinator Khwaja Rizwan Alam and MPA Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar accompanied the governor on his visit to the flood-hit areas of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur. – WITH INPUT FROM APP
Khosa should look at own party: Sanaullah
Minister for Law Rana Sanaullah took exception to the governor’s criticism of the Punjab government, saying he should “take a closer look at the loot and corruption in his own party”.
He said the government had allocated “record development funds for south Punjab”, adding the PPP had “only made verbal claims”.
“The chief minister has visited the flood affected areas. [T]he Punjab government will continue to support flood affectees until they are rehabilitated,” he said in a statement.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2012.
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