I suggest that Abdul Sattar Edhi, an internationally renowned social worker, must be given a special award for saving the lives of thousands of innocent people of Lyari recently who remained under siege completely for eight days due to an ill-planned police operation that was headed by a SSP, CID, Chaudhry Aslam, despite him having a criminal record. Strangely, the said police officer was decorated with the prestigious presidential award before the start of Lyari operation.
As a result of operation, the people of Lyari were deprived of basic facilities like food, water, gas, electricity, medicines etc. They were not allowed even to come out from their homes for medical treatment and even pregnant ladies were not allowed to go to maternity homes as there was no interval in the operation. This was the worst operation of its kind where innocent people in thousands number were targeted for nothing. Even some social organisations that brought food for the residents to serve the stranded people were not allowed to enter into the area.
Nonetheless, it was Mr Edhi who warned PPP-MQM coalition Sindh government that if the siege continued any further, thousands of innocent people would die and he had no sufficient coffins to bury dead bodies in large number.
The PPP government that launched the Lyari operation on the demand of an ethnic group, had detained Mr Edhi whereas his highly efficient ambulance service was also stopped from operating in Lyari as pointed out by Mr Edhi to the media.
If people like Edhi were not present in our society, the coalition government in Sindh would have killed thousands of innocent people under the guise of the so-called policy of “reconciliation”.
MOHAMMAD KHAN SIAL
Karachi
