As many as 27 politicians contesting elections from Sindh are under threat of assassination, a communique by Sindh IGP revealed to top officials on Friday.
The communique was sent to the senior officers in Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana and Sukkur ranges, Crime Investigation Department and Special Branch Sindh, and directed them to take preemptive action against the perceived threat.
The list includes the names of members of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP), National People’s Party, Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen, Muttahida Deeni Mahaz, Sipah-i-Sahaba, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, PML-Functional and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.
The largest number of candidates under threat belong to PPPP. The most prominent among them is former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, candidate from PS-29 Khairpur. His daughter Dr Nafeesa Shah, candidate for women’s reserved seats in National Assembly, is also on the list. The other 12 PPPP candidates are Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah (NA-199), Jam Mehtab Dahar (PS-05), Ahmed Ali Khan Pitafi (PS-07), Syed Faiz Ali Shah (NA-217), Syed Bachal Shah (PS-30), Munawar Hussain Wasan, Naeem Ahmed Kharal (PS-34), Asghar Ali Shah (NA-212), Sarfaraz Hussain Shah (PS-21), Feroze Ahmed Jamali (PS-23), Abdullah Sattar Abbasi (PS-22) and Abdul Haq Bhurt (PS-20).
National People’s Party’s five candidates who have been declared to be under threat are: Shahriyar Shah (PS-05), Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi (NA-211), Ghulam Rasool Jatoi (PS-19), Masroor Ahmed Jatoi (PS-23) and Arif Mustafa Jatoi (PS-22).
Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen’s (MWM) Abdullah Mutahiri (NA-198) and Ali Bakhsh Sajadi (NA-199) as well as their rivals from Muttahida Deeni Mahaz on the same constituencies respectively, Qari Attaullah Rehmani and Mohammad Ramzan Naumani have also been named. The list also includes the name of Pir Mohammad Shah of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, whose constituency has not been mentioned.
The remaining three candidates include: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Syed Zafar Ali Shah (NA-212), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Nadir Akmal Leghari (PS-07) PML-Functional’s Rashid Shah Rashidi (PS-30).
According to sources, this list is one of many being prepared by security officials in light of the escalating electoral violence in the country, and is mean to help the authorities preempt more attacks.