Bilawal criticises Center for 'unfair' treatment with Sindh

KARACHI: Dubbing the Centre’s plans to materialize development projects in the now controversial twin islands off Karachi’s coastline an attack on Sindh government, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto criticized the alleged takeover of islands across Sindh and Balochistan, ARY News reported on Thursday.

In his press conference from Bilawal House, Karachi, accompanied with Chief Minister Sindh and other PPP leadership, Bilawal said their efforts are for the basic human rights of the masses.

He said the federal government via a presidential ordinance overnight, attempted to seize the islands that belong to the province and fisherfolk and that if the same practice is continued, they will tomorrow take away Umar Kot and Khairpur via a presidential ordinance, too.

The PPP chair claimed that the fishermen are already angry with the government’s policies on fishing and that islands are there home which is being taken away from them.

Responding to the queries on the opposition’s movement against the incumbent government, he said that using the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) the party will raise its voice.

READ: Sindh government does about-turn on custody of islands

He announced that the PDM will carry out political processions in Gujranwala and Karachi on Oct 16 and 18 respectively.

Bilawal said that government owing to its ‘grudges’ against political forces have resorted to vindictive politics.

Alleging the Centre of discrimination, he said that the province was not getting its share of gas while each passing day there’s an update of hiked energy fares.

Bilawal also said that the government, with all the crises haunting the country at the moment, has pushed the masses against the wall and claimed that the present form of the parliamentary system has no stake of the masses.

It may be recalled that the Centre’s plans to launch mega commercial and housing schemes on Sindh’s two islands, Bundal and Buddo, along Karachi’s coast hang in the balance as the PPP-led provincial government has withdrawn its letter handing their custody over to the federal government.

The Sindh government withdrew its July 6, 2020 letter in which the Land Utilization Department had consented to the federal government to take custody of both islands. Following the province’s consent, President Dr Arif Alvi had promulgated the Islands Development Authority Ordinance 2020 on August 30.