Blame game: Khuhro denies deal with Musharraf

Says collective pressure forced the dictator to resign.

KARACHI:

Sindh Senior Minister for Education Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) brokered no deal with former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf to oust him from presidency. Instead joint pressure of political parties forced the dictator to resign.

Addressing the media at his office on Tuesday, Khuhro said that political forces joined hands to demand the impeachment of the military ruler and forced Musharraf to exit through a safe passage. All political forces were in favour of giving this safe passage to Musharraf, he said, adding that the courts would now determine the fate of former military ruler.

Struggle for democracy

He lashed out at Tahirul Qadri for blaming democracy for the problems of the country and said his statement was welcome proof of his ignorance towards the democratic norms. Khuhro added that Imran Khan supported the unconstitutional referendum of Pervez Musharraf and was now demanding democracy in the country.

The senior minister said that Imran Khan would not call off his rally on August 14 on the appeal of PML-N leaders and would continue to hold a tsunami march as he has always supported unconstitutional means to derail the democratic process.

Khuhro denied rumours of changes in Sindh government and said that the current setup would continue to serve the province.

Loadshedding

The minister said the electricity crisis in the country was a gift to the nation from the last dictator. He added that military dictators had always focused on exacerbating differences among provinces. Khuhro said that there are several channels in the Sindh River where electricity could be produced without storing water. But no one has taken steps to capitalize on this opportunity.

Education sector

Moreover, Khuhro said that there are 4000 to 5000 schools closed in Sindh and the provincial education department was working with NGOs and journalists to identify them and take action against elements involved in their closure.

He said that the education department officers were overburdened due to lack of staff.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2014.