War of words: Thar tragedy widens gulf between PPP and MQM

MQM leaders respond to the CM's allegations against their former health minister

KARACHI:

The rising rate of child mortality in the drought-affected region of Thar has sparked a war of words between leaders of the two main political parties of the province. On Wednesday, the chief minister, while addressing a press conference in Mithi, had blamed the Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) Dr Sagheer Ahmed for neglecting the region during his tenure as the health minister.

The chief minister's words prompted the MQM to launch their own counter-allegations against their former coalition partners. Addressing a press conference outside the Sindh Assembly on Thursday, Faisal Subzwari, Khwaja Izharul Hassan and Dr Sagheer Ahmed unanimously said: "Bad governance, mismanagement, massive corruption and favouritism by the Sindh government are the major causes of the Thar tragedy."

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, while defending his government, had claimed that the health portfolio had been with the MQM for the past 20 years. "They have started this malicious campaign after parting ways with the government," he had alleged.

Responding to the allegations, MQM's Subzwari had strong words for the CM. He bluntly stated that the chief minister had been at the helm of affairs for the last seven years but had given nothing to the people except miseries. "The Sindh government, led by Qaim Ali Shah, has even turned Karachi into Thar where people are suffering from acute water shortage and the development budget of the city has been reduced from Rs48 billion to Rs6 billion." He added that the chief minister himself held more than a dozen portfolios of important departments and his family members and relatives were enjoying power in the provincial government. "Before pointing fingers at the MQM's health minister, the chief minister should look at his own performance," he demanded.

"Can the chief minister also hold us responsible for the worsening law and order in the province, especially in his hometown Khairpur where kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative business and people are scared to come out of their homes after sunset?" he questioned. His accusations did not, however, end here. Subzwari questioned whether the CM would also blame the MQM for the dust and gravel found in the wheat bags that were sent as relief to the drought-affected region. He claimed that schools and dispensaries across the province had been turned into cattle farms and incompetent officials had been appointed in the health and education departments by the CM himself. "Several well-known NGOs have published reports highlighting the bad governance and corruption in Sindh, but the CM and his cabinet ministers have brushed them aside as baseless."

For his part, the former health minister, Dr Ahmed, refuted the CM's claims that he had not visited Thar even once. "The chief minister forgets that I visited Thar twice soon after I took over charge of the health department. Unfortunately, he is misguiding the people that I have never been to the region." It was now his turn to ask what the CM had done for the people of Thar. "Has he given a single canal to the people of Thar? All the development work, including roads and electricity in the district was carried out by the then chief minister, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim. The PPP government has done nothing for the district," he maintained.

Dr Ahmed went on to allege that for the last eight years, the chief minister was the main hurdle in the construction of the trauma centre at Civil Hospital, Karachi.

Meanwhile, Khwaja Izharul Hasan was more interested in accountability for the Rs3,000 billion utilised by the Sindh government on development in Sindh. He claimed that a major chunk of the money went into the pockets of bureaucrats and Pakistan Peoples Party ministers.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2014.