Says court decisions have to be accepted whether in favour or against; Bilawal should avoid becoming Imran;PML-N to cross ‘red line’ if PPP does so
KARACHI: Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said on Saturday the court decisions, whether in favour or against, had to be accepted, adding that former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani had faced injustice but the PPP accepted it. He said PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari should not try to become Imran Khan and warned that the PML-N would also cross the ‘red line’ if the PPP did so.
Saad said Bilawal would lose credibility if he behaved like Imran and asked the PPP chairman to keep working for the province till the next general elections.
Addressing a ceremony held in connection with laying foundation stone of flats for Railways employees and talking to the media, he also advised Imran to wait for the 2018 general elections and said the sit-in call in Islamabad was a conspiracy. He said the change would not come in the country through a martial law and sit-in protest.
“Those playing lockdown politics should understand that their own politics would be locked down if they keep doing such politics,” he added.
He said one party and one family ruling Sindh for a long time continuously, except the era of dictatorship, had ruined the entire Sindh. He said those talking about southern Punjab should visit Multan, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan and see the progress of the cities made during the last few years.
“The flags of one party have been removed from Karachi and flags of another party installed across the city,” he remarked.
Saad also criticised former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, saying he was not serious in initiating the metro bus project and restoration of Karachi Circular Railway. There were issues in the original plan, he added. —Agencies
M Waqar Bhatti adds: Bitterly criticising the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Sindh government for its ‘inefficiency and mismanagement’, Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Saturday advised the PPP to hold itself accountable for turning Karachi into a ‘mega heap of garbage’ and converting the rest of Sindh into ruins despite spending 900 billion rupees.
“In a province whose biggest city is nothing but a mega heap of garbage, where there are no covers on manholes at main arteries, pavements are broken and the entire province appears to be ruins of ancient cities, its rulers should not make lengthy speeches and call for others’ accountability,” Khawaja Saad Rafique said while talking to newsmen after inaugurating the construction of residential apartments for Pakistan Railways employees in Karachi.
Accompanied by Divisional Superintendent (DS) Railways Karachi Nisar Memon and other officials, the federal railways minister, who is in Karachi for the last three days since two trains collided in the city, killing 22 passengers and injuring over 60 others, questioned when the cities of Punjab were developing and turning into modern cities, why the situation in Sindh was not changing.
He maintained that Circular Railway was badly needed in Karachi, Metro Train and Metro Bus systems should have been introduced in Karachi first but the city’s transportation needs were ignored.
“I have decided to talk to Sindh chief minister Karachi about the Circular Railway because we have already given 360 acres of land to Sindh. Now it is their job to come up with a mass transit system for the people of Karachi,” he observed and added that the provincial government should introduce a mass transit project like the Orange Train project of Punjab to resolve transportation woes of Karachiites.
Commenting on encroachment on railways lands, he said all major land grabbers would be expelled from the railways property while action against land grabbers in the mega city would be continued. “I would also talk to IGP Sindh to help us in evacuating our lands in Karachi,” he added.
Saad Rafique claimed that Pakistan Railways was on the verge of destruction three years ago but now it was improving gradually, adding that they were computerising the railways lands all over the country but this process was a little slower in Karachi.
Giving details of the residential apartments being constructed in the city, he said he had decided to introduce the housing society to improve the living standard of railway employees and added that three apartment buildings, containing 16 apartments each, were being constructed at the cost of Rs165 million, which would be completed by 2017.
“Some railway officers are living in large houses while employees are still living in miserable conditions. We have decided to cut these large bungalows and facilitate ordinary employees,” he said.
Commenting on the politics of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Saad Rafique praised Dr. Farooq Sattar and his colleagues for opposing the anti-Pakistan statements of their founder, saying the senior Muttahida leadership was not satisfied with their London-based leader.
Source: Published at: November 06, 2016 at 05:00AM