KARACHI: In an apparent reaction to Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed’s directions on Monday that shopping malls across the country be reopened, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari expressed his hopes that the superior judiciary would give judgements “based on facts and medical realities”. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, on the other hand, welcoming the decision, demanded that the Sindh government allow business round the clock in the last days of Ramazan and resume public transport services banned till Eid holidays.

While expressing his views on social media, Bilawal did not mention his remarks as reaction or comment on the SC verdict, but rather what he was thinking over the challenges posed by the coronavirus.

“Hoping sanity prevails in the highest court of our land,” tweeted Mr Bhutto-Zardari. “I don’t want to believe that the superior judiciary would pass any judgement endangering the health & lives of the people of Pakistan. I’m sure all honorable judges will give judgements based on facts & medical realities. IA (Insha Allah).”

PTI welcomes verdict

Thanking the SC for allowing shopping malls to resume business and lifting the restrictions on major commercial centres, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf demanded that the Sindh government allow business round the clock in the last days of Ramazan and let public transport services, banned till Eid holidays, resume.

The senior leaders of the party in Sindh strongly criticised the PPP government in Sindh for not allowing business even days before Eid celebrations. They also expressed their doubts and reservations over the measures put in place by the provincial government in the name of “standard operating procedures”.

“We are fighting for the rights of the people,” said the PTI Karachi president and Sindh Assembly member Khurram Sher Zaman while speaking at a press conference at the party office called Insaf House.

“Our objective is to bring relief to the people. We are very much grateful to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for his suo motu notice that led to the opening of markets and malls. The governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab have already reopened the malls. We demand here in Sindh the markets should be kept open for 24 hours till the last night of Ramazan. Public transport should be opened under the SOPs.”

Flanked by Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi, PTI’s parliamentary leader Haleem Adil Sheikh and other party colleagues, he questioned the credibility and qualification of the chief minister’s advisers who were devising a strategy for the daily life of the people in Sindh.

“My question is that does threat of the coronavirus emerge after 5pm? Does it only threaten the traders?” He said the closure of petrol stations after certain time was also beyond his understanding.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2020