KHAIRPUR: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday said that his government properly pleaded the province’s case at the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) and Council of Common Interests (CCI).

He was speaking to local reporters during his visit to Nawab Khan Wassan village in Kot Diji taluka where he had come to meet Minister for Prisons Manzoor Hussain Wassan and offer his condolences on the death of his brother-in-law Abdul Rahim Wassan.

The chief minister said that Sindh conveyed its reservations over Irsa’s unfair treatment in clear terms with regard to the violation of the water accord.

The authority was told that Sindh, like other smaller provinces, was not getting its due share in water as envisaged in the accord, he said.

Answering questions about Prime Minister Sha­hid Khaqan Abbasi’s allegation of Senate chairman’s elec­tion having been rig­ged; Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) having been involved in horse-trading; and ousted premier Nawaz Sharif’s narrative regarding his [an elec­ted PM’s] removal thro­ugh the judiciary, Mr Shah said PPP always upheld sanctity of vote. In fact, it was PPP founder chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who gave the doctrine of “all powers lay with the masses (taqat ka sarchashma awam hain)” and made it PPP’s slogan to define sanctity of vote in democracy.

He said Sharif was trumpeting sanctity of vote only to hide his inefficiency.

The Sharif family always came to power through the back door, Mr Shah said, and added that people should not heed the hue and cry being raised by Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.

In reply to a question, the chief minister said that PPP had reservations over the rules governing the Natio­nal Accountability Bur­eau (NAB) and the “discriminatory” [role] it was playing. “NAB is taking cosmetic actions in Punjab just to balance its unfair actions in Sindh,” he said.

Regarding accusation of victimisation levelled by the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, Mr Shah said PML-F had been occupying around 16,000 acres of agricultural lands given to landless peasant women by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The issue was also raised in the Sindh Asse­mbly. “However, when any action was taken [to retrieve the lands and restore them to their owners], we are accused of political victimisation,” he said.

Replying to other questions, Mr Shah said that law and order across Sindh was exceptionally good, and cited the absolutely peaceful holding of Pakistan Super League (PSL) and International T20 cricket matches in Karachi.

About teachers’ protest campaign, the chief minister rejected the claim that they were not getting their salaries.

He also admitted that measles cases in certain parts of Sindh were on the rise these days. Measures were being taken to check its spread, he said.

He added that the federal government had not yet provided consignments of measles vaccines although the provincial government had made payment for that.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2018