Lyari chalked up 60% of Karachi operation fatalities: Shah

The operation against criminals has brought peace to Sindh, says Shah

LAHORE:

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah on Sunday said 60% of those killed in the Karachi operation so far were from Lyari.

“Lyari is a PPP constituency but we are not crying,” he told reporters at the Pakistan Peoples Party Punjab Secretariat in Lahore.

To a large extent, Shah said, the operation against criminals has brought peace to Sindh. The paramilitary force, he added, is carrying out the operation without any discrimination.

While giving statistics of the ongoing Karachi operation, he said that 60% of those killed were from Lyari, 20% Taliban, 8% to 10% Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) associates and 5% to 6%  of those killed were Awami National Party and Sunni Tehreek followers.

About Saulat Mirza’s statement, Shah said importance should not be given to the statement of a man on death row.

“Even if Saulat’s statement is true, his punishment should not be postponed or commuted to life sentence. His statement is on record and that can be investigated.”

Delaying Saulat’s punishment has benefitted the MQM politically, he added.

“It would not be appropriate to isolate the MQM. It should be kept in the political mainstream and its militant wing should be eliminated,” Shah said. “The operation in Karachi was started on MQM’s request. They wanted the army to carry it out as they thought police in Sindh are heavily politicised,” he stated.

Highlighting the positive outcome of the operation, he maintained that incidents of kidnapping for ransom and extortion had declined in interior Sindh.

Quashing rumours of differences between PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto and his father Asif Ali Zardari, Shah categorically said Bilawal would be in Pakistan on the occasion of ZA Bhutto’s death anniversary on April 4.

Regarding Uzair Baloch’s allegations against Zardari, Shah said Uzair did so because the Sindh government was after him due to his criminal activities. Still he expressed surprise over Uzair’s statement, considering that he was in custody in Dubai.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2015.