Federal govt will be responsible for providing Musharraf safe passage: Memon

The minister for information rejected the federal government decisions of stopping all development projects in Sindh.

KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Inam Memon said on Saturday that if Pervez Musharraf goes abroad, the independent judiciary and federal government would be responsible for providing the former president with safe passage.

He said this while addressing a press conference at the office of the Sindh Archive department on Saturday.

“There are speculations that the federal government has agreed to provide him safe passage to travel abroad, and regarding this the National Reconciliation Order (NRO) has been signed among all stakeholders” he revealed.

Govt only considers Lahore as Pakistan

Rejecting the federal government decisions of stopping all development projects in Sindh, the minister critiqued that the federal government considers only Lahore as Pakistan.

He pointed to the numerous projects being built in Lahore instead of developments in rural areas of Punjab or other provinces.

“The federal government discontinued the important development projects of Sindh including Thar-coal, Lyari Expressway, S-3 project and the Karachi Circular Railway project. This is the worst example of political victimisation against the Sindh government or the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP),” Memon complained.

“The government is continuing the policy of political victimisation just like they did during the 1990's.”

 

Targeted operation to continue despite little support

The information minister said that the Sindh government would continue its targeted operation until all target killers and extortionists are behind bars, adding that the government was trying to provide law enforcement agencies with modern equipment.

“We are also reducing our development funds to provide modern equipment to our law enforcement agencies in order to combat target killers and extortions,” he said.

Memon hinted that the federal government was playing hardball over the development budget.

“It is all about malafide intentions. Since they are providing us with support for the ongoing targeted operation but they have put a stop to all development schemes of the province of Sindh.”

“We requested the federal government to provide due support several times but they did not extend their support - financially or technically,” Memon complained.

As an example, Memon pointed towards the issue of blocking illegal SIMs.

“After several requests, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) which is a federal entity, had blocked the illegal SIMs and announced that new SIMs be issued through the biometric system” he regretted.

He added that, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, despite promises, did not play their role in continuation of the targeted operation and that they are conducting the operation with their own limited resources.

“We are not against democracy, and we extend all our support to federal government decisions which are going for the sovereignty of country and wealth for the people. However, they should also reconsider all their acts which are going against the masses of Sindh,” Memon commented.

“The government must provide funds for development schemes for Sindh, and it must stop GT road politics and think about as prime minister” he said.

In response to a question about extrajudicial killing which had been carried out during the Karachi operation, the minister said that the Sindh government has constituted the committee for the investigation of these cases. And those who were involved in extrajudicial killing would be dealt with by the government in accordance to the law.