KARACHI: Opposition parties in the province on Friday said that the killing of a prominent teacher associated with the IBA-Sukkur in Kandhkot reflected poor law and order and demanded that a strong action be taken against police and district officials for their “criminal negligence”.

Dr Mohammad Ajmal Sawand was on his way back to Sukkur from his Shawli village when attackers sprayed his car with bullets in the Shalo area of Kandhkot, killing him on the spot.

Condemning the incident, Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shiekh of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lashed out at the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government in the province and alleged that it had appointed “corrupt and incompetent” police officers for “certain objectives”.

He said that the murder of an educated person like Dr Sawand was a result of ineffective policing in Sindh.

PTI, Muttahida and SUP slam PPP govt for poor law and order

“The police force in Sindh is actually not there to protect life and honour of people,” he said in a statement. “It’s there to protect the PPP feudal lords. They are paid by the government for the protection of interests of ministers, leaders and feudal lords of the PPP.”

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) condemned the killing of Dr Sawand and called it unfortunate that the tribal feud in rural Sindh had claimed life of a genius teacher who returned to the country after acquiring education in France to serve his own people.

“The MQM-P has always condemned tribal clashes in Sindh. This saga has claimed so many lives but, unfortunately, the provincial government has failed so far to stop this menace despite all resources and power,” said the MQM-P coordination committee in a statement issued on Friday.

The party demanded that the Sindh chief minister take notice of the killing and bring the culprits to justice.

The Sindh United Party (SUP) came up with almost same thoughts.

Syed Zain Shah of the party said there was resentment among the people of Sindh against the PPP government amid growing number of criminal activities across the province, nexus between police administration and the criminals and unchecked exploitation of local people through certain tribal elders.

“Apart from other crimes, there’s been a surge in kidnapping for ransom cases in Sindh,” he said.

“There’s an organised campaign that causes tribal clashes to achieve certain targets which claim human lives. Along with Karachi, no area of Sindh is safe for a common man. This is a result of 15-year rule of PPP. The PPP has ruined Sindh economically, politically and socially,” he added.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2023