Firdous Shamim Naqvi's family urges Sindh govt to shift MPA to Karachi

• Sending my father to Sukkur jail is like giving him a death sentence, says Naqvi's son. 
• Family urges CM to shift Naqvi to Karachi. 
• PTI leader Ali Zaidi moved to Jacobabad jail. 

Following the transfer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi, member of the provincial assembly’s (MPA) family urged the authorities to shift him to Karachi rather than Sukkur jail due to his medical conditions.

“Sending my father to Sukkur jail is like giving him a death sentence,” the lawmaker’s son, Zuhair Naqvi, said while speaking to the journalists along with his mother, Andaleeb Firdous. He revealed that the court had issued orders to keep his father in central jail, Karachi.

“My father cannot walk for more than 30 minutes and used a stick. I request the authorities concerned to keep my father in a hospital,” Zuhair said.

On the other hand, the lawmaker’s wife told the media that her husband is a cancer survivor who has difficulty eating normal food.

“Not even a single FIR was registered against him in his life. Now multiple FIRs have been registered against him on the complaint of unidentified men,” Andaleeb said, urging Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to look into the matter and move Naqvi back to Karachi.

The PTI leader was detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law. He was being kept in Karachi but the Sindh government on Wednesday issued an order to shift PTI leader to the Sukkur jail.

The order reads: “In continuation and partial modification of this department’s order of even number dated May 14, 2023, Syed Firdous Shamim Naqvi, son of Syed Shamim ul Hassan Naqvi, residing in KDA Scheme, Karsaz Road, Karachi, detained under MPO 1960, may be detained at the Central Prison Sukkur instead of the District Prison Malir, Karachi.”

The orders were issued after an anti-terrorism court remanded the PTI lawmaker and 28 workers of the opposition party to prison, while two others were remanded in police custody in two rioting cases registered in reference to May 9.

Naqvi, along with other party workers, was arrested for his alleged involvement in staging violent protests on Sharea Faisal following the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan on May 9.

Ali Zaidi moved to Jacobabad

Naqvi was not the only PTI leader who moved out of Karachi, the Sindh government also shifted former federal minister Ali Zaidi to Jacobabad after the home department cancelled the sub-jail order issued for him.

The officials said that the move comes after a high-level meeting that took place in Sindh, where it was decided that the order declaring Zaidi’s residence a sub-jail be withdrawn and he is shifted to the Jacobabad jail. The home department’s sub-jail notification was issued on Monday night.

The PTI leader had been arrested on May 9 following the mayhem in the Baloch Colony area. His family then filed a petition with the Sindh High Court challenging his detention, following which during a meeting held to review law and order, the provincial government decided to declare Zaidi’s house a sub-jail.

The decision had been made exercising the powers conferred under Section 541(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, Section 6(a) of the Sindh Prisons & Corrections Services Act 2019, and Rule 2(1)(s) of the Sindh Prisons & Corrections Services Rules 2019.