Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah visited Sehwan Sharif on the concluding day of the 774th annual Urs of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, where he offered Fateha at the shrine and prayed for peace and prosperity in the country.
Speaking to the media, the chief minister said strict security arrangements were put in place following security threats linked to an incident in Islamabad three to four days earlier.
A suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad’s Tarlai area during Friday prayers had killed at least 32 worshippers and injured more than 170 others, according to officials.
Police said the attacker was affiliated with the terrorist group Fitna al-Khwarij, while forensic teams collected evidence from the site.
Murad Ali Shah said around three million devotees attended the three-day Urs, adding that security and administrative arrangements were largely satisfactory.
“We try every year to improve arrangements. If there were any shortcomings, we would learn from them,” he said.
He said future planning would be strengthened in view of the growing number of visitors.
The chief minister criticised traders for raising prices during Ramadan, noting that prices usually fall during religious festivals in other countries. He said the provincial government had adopted a better strategy this year to keep wheat and flour prices under control.
He added that Sindh had requested the federal government to allow the purchase of one million tonnes of wheat, and that a uniform policy had been approved.
Murad Ali Shah said the provincial government had taken strict action against corruption, including dismissals from service.
He stressed that extrajudicial killings would not be tolerated and said judicial inquiries had been ordered.
The chief minister said sustainable employment could not be created without equipping young people with modern skills.
Earlier, the provincial minister for Auqaf presented him with a Sindhi ajrak and cap, while the deputy commissioner of Jamshoro, Ghazanfar Ali Qadri, gave him a commemorative shield.
He also visited a medical camp set up in the shrine premises and distributed clothes among women devotees.
