Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Memon has said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will not become part of any campaign or plot to derail the democratic set up in the country.
Addressing a ceremony at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) in connection with distribution of plots to journalists on Thursday, Sharjeel Memon said that the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) led by Tahirul Qadri and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan had same objective but their approach was different.
Responding to a question, he termed Tahirul Qadri’s movement for ‘revolution’ as untimely and unjustified, adding the mandate of democratically-elected government of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) must be respected.
“The PAT chief should first bring about a revolution in the country of his nationality – Canada,” he said, adding the government should be allowed to complete its full term. He castigated Tahirul Qadri for not getting off the Emirates airliner at the Lahore airport that, he said, earned a bad name to the country.
Commenting on the Model Town tragedy, Memon slammed the incumbent government saying it had handled the situation as dictators did.
To another question on entrance of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sindh, he said the chief minister had already announced a relief of Rs 500 million for them. He said relief camps for collection of succour had been set in various districts of Sindh from where truckloads of relief supplies would be transported to the IDPs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
To a question about the PTI’s threats to resign from assemblies, Memon said it was an unwise notion. There was no justification for tendering resignation on the allegation of rigging, he added.
The minister said the PPP would never allow closing down of any media group, adding that any move to muzzle the freedom of expression would be thwarted. “Those who believe they can gag the voice of truth and render the journalists unemployed live in fools’ paradise,” he added.
The information minister announced construction of an auditorium and a press conference hall for the Karachi Press Club. He said the KPC should identify the place and the requisite funds would be arranged by the Sindh government.
He also announced establishing endowment fund for journalists in the current year. Later, he distributed plots allotment documents among the members of KPC.
