Sharif says action against all criminal outfits in Karachi will continue till their complete elimination
Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) chief Pir Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on Friday and discussed the evolving political situation in the country with special focus on formation of a broad-based alliance against the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in Sindh.
The meeting was also attended by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Pir Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashidi.
A source privy to the details of the meeting told Pakistan Today that during the meeting Pir Pagara informed PM Sharif about his efforts to form an anti-PPP alliance in Sindh.
Both Pir Pagara and Nawaz Sharif are not only close to the Establishment but both parties have also suffered at the hands of the PPP in the recent Senate election. The PML-F failed to win any Senate seat despite forming an alliance with the PML-N while Sharif failed to get his party’s candidates elected to the top slots in Senate.
Sources privy to the meeting said that Pir Pagara endorsed the Rangers’ action against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)-linked criminal elements and called for continuing targeted actions against all such outfits in Karachi to bring peace to the financial hub of the country.
The sources said that Sharif also shared his concerns about the situation in Karachi stating that the country’s peace was linked with peace in the port city.
” Sharif assured Pagara that indiscriminate action would be taken against all criminal elements in Karachi. Both the leaders agreed that the situation in Karachi needed unprecedented steps to maintain peace. Pagara said that the Establishment was unhappy with PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari’s condemnation of the Rangers’ raid on MQM Headquarters Nine-Zero,” said the source, adding that Pagara told Sharif that the PPP could not be trusted as the party was itself involved in patronising criminal gangs.
The source said that both the leaders also discussed the future changes in Sindh, including the possibility of governor’s rule in the province.
“If the situation goes from bad to worse in the province, governor’s rule cannot be ruled out,” Pir Pagara told the premier, according to the source.
The source said that Pagara also informed the premier about his efforts to form an alliance against the Sindh government, which according to him, had failed in serving the people of Sindh.
Meanwhile, an official statement quoted the prime minister as saying that the PML-N wanted to take all political parties on board on matters of national importance.
“The PML-F leaders informed the prime minister that action against miscreants and criminals in Karachi will go a long way in restoring peace in the metropolitan city. Administrative measures taken by the federal government in Sindh province and overall political situation in the country also came under discussion,” the statement concluded.
