MITHI: Grand Dem­ocratic Alliance (GDA) leader and former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim on Monday claimed that component parties of the alliance had long been feeling alienated by Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

“We may ponder over withdrawing support to the PTI now when the prime minister has become totally indifferent to the atrocious treatment being meted out to us by the Sindh government through the police,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference at his farmhouse in Bhitaro village near Kaloi town of Tharparkar district, he said the PM failed to protect and defend his party’s allies in Sindh from the “brutalities being unleashed on our workers by the Sindh police”.

He said PTI’s allies in this province had been facing such treatment ever since Imran Khan came to power. He never bothered to even pay attention to the oppression “resorted to at the behest of the high-ups in Sindh government and PPP”, he lamented.

Dr Arbab said he would take up the matter with the GDA leadership in the upcoming meeting of the alliance. He wondered that the PM remained indifferent to the complaint, made time and again, about police excesses on GDA workers. “I hope that other GDA leaders would also reconsider their support for PTI as they have the same feelings,” he said.

Recalling alleged police excesses on his supporters in Tharparkar, he demanded removal of SSP Hassan Sardar Niazi and accused him of acting like the estate manager of certain PPP leaders. He said the SSP had created a new record of implicating his supporters in false cases.

He claimed that PPP was ruling over the province by using influence of police and corrupt elements.

He reminded the PPP that it would not succeed in changing loyalties of his workers and supporters through political victimisation and such tactics.

He warned of a vigorous campaign against the Sindh government if such “atrocities” were not brought to an end.

He also reminded the PTI that its candidates had polled votes in big numbers thanks to the support of GDA component parties and could do even better in the next elections but the PTI government at the centre would have to protect workers of its allies from PPP’s oppressive drive.

Dr Arbab said the Sindh government and police had launched a crackdown on those who had held a peaceful protest at Bahria Town in Karachi. He said the aim of the crackdown was to teach them a lesson for raising their voice against property tycoon Malik Riaz. “The PPP leadership can go to any length to protect BTK and provide more lands of local people to people like Malik Riaz in order to accumulate more and more assets,” he said.

He demanded withdrawal of all cases against the protesters as well as against Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, Ayaz Latif Palijo and Dr Qadir Magsi.

He contested the police claim of arson by the protesters saying that they carried no weapons or chemicals to indulge in subversive activities. Some trained terrorists were brought in by vested interests to carry out the attacks and create a pretext for the crackdown and victimisation, he added, and demanded a fair probe into the whole episode.

Former MNA Arbab Zakaullah, Arbab Anwar Jabbar and other leaders of the Arbab group were also present at the press conference.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2021