KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah said on Monday that the entire nation needs to develop consensus on the issue of eliminating terrorism.
He was addressing the media after a meeting with Khawaja Izharul Hassan, the opposition leader in the provincial assembly and a senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader, who survived an attempt on his life on Saturday in an attack which left his police guard, and a passing-by child dead, along with one of the attackers.
The chief minister, who was accompanied by several Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders and provincial ministers, called on Hassan and was received by MQM-P’s Faisal Subzwari and Hassan, at the latter’s residence.
Expressing grief at the loss of life during the attack, the CM said that no one expected to be attacked after Eid prayers. “We all need to find a solution to combat this menace,” said the chief minister and added that the provincial government had asked the federal government to put several organisations and seminaries on a watch list, but that is yet to be done.
Replying to a question about the terrorists having educational backgrounds he said, “We will see if educational institutes have become breeding grounds for terrorists.”
Addressing the media, Izharul Hassan thanked people for their wishes and requested for prayers for the deceased and the injured. He added that the attempt on his life was a ‘deliberate act of terrorism’, and the chief minister should head a collective movement against terrorism to get to the ‘masterminds’.
The CM and the MQM-P leader later called on the family of the boy who was killed during Saturday’s attack and offered condolences and prayers for the deceased.
