Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif Saturday said that load shedding was the result of criminal negligence of the federal government as it has failed to check kunda system, recover dues and give 700MW of electricity to Karachi.
The chief minister was talking to media persons and party workers at the tent office outside Jinnah Stadium Okara and inaugurating the sports complex here on Saturday.
Shahbaz Sharif said that Ali Baba and group of forty thieves was providing 700MW of electricity to Karachi whereas in Punjab more than 16 hours of load shedding was being applied. He said he does not talk about this theft because the political opponents would start levelling charges of provincialism against him.
He said if any other province had faced such a long load shedding, he would have been in the forefront to rise for the people.
He regretted that the Centre was benefiting from good things but shifting the impact of bitter things to provinces. He said the Centre is like a piece of bread and there would be no problem if it were shared by the four brothers equally.
Shahbaz Sharif said a 300MW power station lying idle in Karachi has not been made operational for the last three years. If this plant was made functional, 300MW of Punjab electricity could be saved.
The chief minister vowed to set up protest camp in each city of Punjab against load shedding. He said he has been given a message “If I stop protest camp, load shedding would be reduced in Punjab”.
However, he said that he was well aware that the rulers are liars. He said Punjab was not getting electricity according to the decision of the Energy Conference. He said the Punjab government was trying to reduce the impact of load shedding and he would not close the protest camp till Punjab gets its share of electricity. He also added that people of all the cities including Lahore and Okara were equal to him.
Later, the chief minister visited the family of Mehnaz Bibi who was killed after rape. He inquired details from the bereaved family and assured of them provision of justice. The CM offered Fateha for the departed soul and presented a cheque of Rs5 lakh to the family. The chief minister directed Inspector General Police Punjab to arrest the accused within 48 hours. He was told that four main accused perpetrators in the case had been arrested.
If the Punjab government wanted popular violence to register its opposition to the PPP, it has got more than the measure it perhaps, desired. Public and private property was damaged or burned as the mobs, spearheaded by teen and pre-teen youths, went on a spree of destruction. Wapda installations were destroyed, which may actually further complicate the crisis: vandalism became the new creed for a generation that will make Pakistan even more ungovernable in the coming days. PML-N rather than joining hands with government to find a solution to this crisis, backing protests to further aggravate the situation. This popular stunt of Punjab Government costing Pakistan much high, loss of millions have been recorded so far, burning of Wapda offices, markets, vehicles and damage to public and private property is very high. This is very asinine move, Punjab Government should think twice before endorsing such protests.
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