Beware of the Sindh card
They were picked up one by one from different parts of the country. Zardari’s three trusted aides have disappeared within a week, with hints of more to be possibly taken away in days to come. This is enough to cause alarm among the PPP leadership. Khursheed Shah, Moula Bux Chandio and Bakhtawar have all expressed concern. Three persons, close to PPP-P Chief Zardari made to disappear within days indicates that this is no case of kidnapping for ransom or of people failing to return home on account of memory loss caused by dementia.
Zardari had recently declared war against the PML-N government. He had also warned Interior Minister to abstain from acting like Saif-ur-Rehman. Did this lead the government to take umbrage and overreact? The PPP thinks it is a case of political vindictiveness on the part of Ch Nisar, either on his own or on instructions from the top leadership. There is a need on the part of the Interior Minister to come clean about the issue. If there is sufficient evidence of these three persons having been involved in a crime, action against them should be taken in accordance with due process of law. Even the law reviving the military courts passed in March this year by Parliament requires production of an accused before the magistrate within twenty four hours
Any harsh action taken in violation of law by a federal government led by a Prime Minister from Punjab against political rivals from smaller provinces is bound to cause alienation. Nawaz Sharif is already being accused by Sindh and KP of acting like the chief executive of a province rather than the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The action can further strengthen parochial tendencies. The federal government is being accused of interfering in the affairs of Sindh and of neglecting it in development projects. Cautioning the federal government against inciting the people, the Leader of the Opposition has asked the federal government if it wants them to come on roads and start speaking against the state.
