KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said on Wednesday that he had pardoned those who set his residence on fire in the Naushahro Feroz district last year, as their families had repeatedly approached him seeking forgiveness.
Speaking to the media outside the Sindh Assembly, Lanjar described the attack as a deeply personal matter rather than a purely political one. He revealed that many of those involved belonged to his own constituency and that their families had been requesting leniency for months.
According to the home minister, the accused had already spent eight months in jail and continued to appeal for forgiveness. “If forgiving them is considered a crime, then I accept that,” he said.
He emphasised that not everyone present at the scene was directly responsible for the attack, claiming that ordinary individuals were used while the actual masterminds remained behind the scenes. Lanjar alleged that his political opponents orchestrated the incident, adding that his house was set ablaze and Moro was turned into what he described as a “battlefield.”
Responding to criticism, he also took issue with remarks made by Murtaza Jatoi, calling them inflammatory and suggesting they could warrant legal action. Despite the severity of the incident, Lanjar stressed that violence and arson were not the way of political workers. He said politics should focus on public service and resolving conflicts through dialogue rather than destruction.
He further warned against public threats and hate-driven rhetoric, stating that such actions only deepen divisions and yield no constructive outcomes. Reaffirming his stance, Lanjar said that as a politician, his duty was to serve the people, and even in the face of hostility, he believed in addressing issues through political means rather than escalating conflict.
