Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Security agencies have arrested the four masterminds behind the devastating attack on the bus transporting members of the Ismaili community in Karachi that claimed the lives of 45 people. This was disclosed by Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah at a press conference in Nawabshah on Tuesday.
"I should have shared this important news in Karachi that the four people who planned, conspired and prepared the attackers have been arrested," said Shah, while speaking to the media after attending the convocation of the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences (PUMHS). The chief minister claimed that the arrested suspects have confessed to their involvement. He did not disclose their identities.
Contradicting his own
Earlier in the day while speaking at the Sindh Assembly session, Shah had said that the terrorists involved in the Safora Goth attack cannot hide in any corner of the country. He had announced that they would be arrested soon. Addressing the Sindh Assembly session, he said, "We have recorded the eyewitness statements and captured images of these terrorists. They cannot escape and we will arrest all the suspects come what may.”
The chief minister was responding to speeches by the opposition lawmakers in which they had criticised the provincial government's performance with regards to the law and order situation. "We had inherited the worst law and order situation from the previous government," he reasoned. "Around 90 people were kidnapped when we took over in 2008. Not one case of kidnapping for ransom is pending in Sindh and the people of Karachi are walking freely without the fear of being mugged," he said, adding that the situation in Karachi was now under control, but some elements still wanted his resignation. "Why did the chief minister not step down when terrorists attacked the then corps commander's convoy in Karachi and killed French engineers and American diplomats?" he questioned, adding that the Prime Minister, Chief of Army Staff and even diplomats from the USA, UK and the EU had appreciated the Sindh government's performance.
Contradicting the interior minister
The CM's disclosure contradicted the statement of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, who had visited Karachi a day earlier and revealed the arrest of four suspects believed to be involved in the case. The interior minister had said, however, that the arrested suspects were not directly involved in the attack. Rather, the law enforcers hoped to arrest the real culprits through information provided by the detained suspects, he explained, adding that the perpetrators had come 'under the focus of the intelligence agencies.'
Bilawal to return
Shah also confirmed reports of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's return to Pakistan. He said the young scion of the Bhutto family will soon be back in the country and will take charge of the party.
Shah lambasted Zulfiqar Mirza for being a pawn in the hands of a 'secret power'. "We know who that power is. Soon we will expose it in front of the people," said Shah. He defended the Pakistan Peoples Party's co-chairperson, Asif Ali Zardari, against Mirza's criticism, saying he was a successful politician. "Everyone appreciates his political acumen. The all-parties conference [over Pak-China corridor] was also his brainchild."
Convocation
The chief minister distributed academic degrees among 375 students of the PUMHS at its 13th annual convocation. Speaking on the occasion, he said that his government had established nine new universities in the province. He further announced that two institutes of dental and pharmaceutical sciences will be set up in PUMHS and four buses will also be given to the varsity.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2015.
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