The federal and Sindh governments on Wednesday made it clear that nobody would be allowed to ignite fire of hatred, spread terrorism in any form and create despondency in Karachi. This was decided at a high-level meeting held at Chief Minister's House. It was attended by Federal Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar (assisted by CM's advisor on Law Murtaza Wahab), Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, DG Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar, IG Sindh AD Khwaja and some other senior officials.
"If any activity which causes threat to life, liberty, public and private property, business activities and day-to-day life would be dealt with an iron hand," the meeting resolved. It was observed that under a pre-planned and organized move an attempt was made to disturb the peace of Karachi but an accurate and timely move by `young and energetic chief minister' nibbed the nefarious designs of the outlaws and enemies of Pakistan in the bud, the meeting observed.
Chaudhry Nisar said that the new chief minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah has made a "very good start" towards good governance and he was quite sure that not only would law and order improve, business activities would also flourish. Sindh Chief Minister said that his government has given top priority to law and order for which he was holding review meetings day in and day out. "Even today I held a meeting on law and order," he said and added that peace in Karachi has been restored after a lot of sacrifices and now "I am committed to making it sustainable," he said.
He said that FIR of the incident has been registered and each and every outlaw who torched vehicles, ransacked offices of a media house has either been identified or is in the process of identification. "I would not allow any kind of terrorism whether it may be through hate speech, instigation or direct or indirect threats," he said and thanked people of Karachi for supporting him in his peace move.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad said that there should be a co-ordinated effort between federal and provincial government for a sustainable peace. He called for closer co-ordination between the two governments. Chaudhry Nisar said apart from causing anguish and trauma among in the hearts and minds of the people of this city a single day strike or shutter down in Karachi causes Rs 5 billion loss to the exchequer.
The DG Rangers and IG Police briefed the meeting on the incident of August 22 and gave a detailed account of their initial investigations and the actions taken by them. The police chief said that the case was being investigated from different angles and its report would be shared with the federal government.
Nisar also applauded the role of media while it was being attacked. He said that nobody would allowed to held Karachi hostage. "It was for the first time in 25 years that Karachi was not held hostage," he added. Nisar said that Urdu-speaking community has rendered unmatched sacrifices for the creation and development of Pakistan.