Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that the operation in the city would continue and it was not aimed at any political party. Addressing at a function held by the Parsi community, the prime minister emphasised that the operation was initiated with the consensus of all political parties. Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif address a meeting held to review the law and order situation in Karachi. The prime minister said extortion, kidnapping for ransom and target killing had almost been eliminated from Karachi. “It has almost been 2 years since start of the operation which was started with complete consensus. I believe the conditions in Karachi are much better now that two years of the operation are about to be completed. The prime minister also spoke about the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) as well as the recent attacks that claimed the life of Punjab Home Minister Col (r) Shuja Khanzada in Shadi Khan and the one in Karachi that has left MQM leader Abdul Rashid Godil fighting for his life. He added that terrorist activities and attacks will not stop the government’s mission. At the occasion The premier has asked the MQM legislators to rejoin parliament and tasked Maulana Fazlur Rehman to convince them to take back their resignations. However, his sincerity in this regard has been qustioned by the MQM. He should have spared some time to listen to the concerns of the MQM. The MQM leaders have expressed their disappointment over the prime minister’s apathy to meet them in person. The demands of the MQM that include formation of a monitoring committee for the Karachi operation, release of their missing workers and investigation of alleged extrajudicial killings of its activists are not unreasonable. The premier should not give the cold shoulder to these genuine demands. Besides, the MQM has raised a point that reasons must be presented before arresting anyone because the party believed that its workers were being held illegally. The government needs to come clean regarding the accusations of the MQM. The law enforcement agencies should prove in court that there is no extrajudicial killing and a nondiscriminatory action is being taken. So far, no report has appeared in the media about any action against the workers or leaders of any other political party except the MQM. Karachi is the financial and business hub of the country. The economy is dependent on peace in the port city. For the elimination of terrorism and development of the economy, the operation is necessary but the Rangers and other law enforcement agencies should not be given an unfettered free hand. Proper monitoring of the operation is also necessary. The operation should not be limited to Karachi only and a specific political party. Rather the operation should be apolitical and across the board. There is also a need to purge other areas of the country from the scourge of terrorism. An operation is needed in those areas too that have become a safe haven for terrorists. South Punjab is notorious for being a nursery of terrorists.
pk.shafaqna.com
