PPP lawmaker asks Sheikh Rashid to resign as railways minister.

Byline: Hasan Mansoor

KARACHI -- A lawmaker belonging to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party demanded the resignation of Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed for the Tezgam train tragedy that left 74 passengers dead in Rahim Yar Khan as his party colleagues in the house agreed.

'This tragedy has gravely affected Sindh, my Mirpurkhas district in particular, as most of the victims hailed from there,' said MPA Zulfiqar Shah while speaking on a point of order during the Sindh Assembly's session chaired by Deputy Speaker Rehana Laghari.

He said initial reports suggested that the fire was caused by short-circuit, thus 'it is the railways ministry that should bear the onus of the entire episode'.

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He said being the federal minister for railways, Mr Ahmed should resign from the office or the federal government should dismiss him.

'Our selected Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised time and again in his lectures before the general elections that he would take no time in dismissing a minister in his cabinet if he found him or her not apt in discharging one's duties. Mr Prime Minister! The time has just arrived,' he said amid mild uncomfortable noise by lawmakers belonging to the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

He said the PM should keep his promise and dismiss the railways minister for a blunder that deprived so many people of their precious lives.

Mr Shah said most of the victims of the train incident belonged to Sindh, as many of the passengers killed and wounded belonged to Mirpurkhas.

'I have attended funerals of six such victims in Mirpurkhas just today,' he said, adding that the heart-rending incident had wrapped the entire Mirpurkhas district in gloom. 'This incident has deprived our district of many talented and intelligent people. We are all equally sad and heartbroken.'

He claimed that the bodies had been handled in a 'dishonourable' way while being sent to hospitals. He said a video that went viral on social media clearly showed that the bodies were 'inhumanly thrown on a truck'.

'Such treatment to the dead is not acceptable in any civilised society and being Muslims this is utterly disgraceful and inhuman conduct. You criticise the Sindh healthcare system, but at least bodies of the dead are not thrown on trucks like that in Sindh.'

The PPP lawmaker said the compensation announced by the federal government...