Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Monday stated that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was the “last party” to support governor’s rule and the imposition of an emergency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), further adding that the party had advocated political dialogue and engagement as the first course of action. The emergency and governor’s rule were declared on October 11 after negotiations between the government and opposition failed, culminating in a PTI long march towards Islamabad that began on October 4. “PPP was the last party that was in favour of the governor’s rule. We tried to engage them, not once but ten times, and PPP told the federal government that it wanted to resolve issues through political dialogue, but after multiple attempts, if the K-P chief minister himself had an inclination towards the Taliban and terrorists and was not willing to agree, then the government could not let the people of K-P be left on their own at the mercy of the terrorists”.   Memon made these remarks during a visit to the Green Line BRT Operations Command and Control Centre, where he received a briefing on the system’s operations, integration with other transport projects, ridership and overall performance. Transport Secretary Asad Zamin, TransKarachi CEO Zubair Channa, Yellow Line BRT Project Director Kamal Dayo and Sindh Mass Transit Authority Managing Director Behzad Memon accompanied him. Memon said it was important to connect the Green Line with other BRT projects. The Red and Yellow lines were also being linked, with plans to connect the Orange Line to the Green Line, the Green Line to the Red Line, and the Yellow Line to the Red Line. The links would make it easier for passengers to transfer between services and reach their destinations. Read: BRT Red Line picks up steam He added that work was continuing on sections of the Yellow Line, including bridges and other construction, further saying that the Sindh government aimed to complete the projects as soon as possible and establish effective connections between them, creating an integrated and modern transport network in the metropolis. Memon said that Sindh had made significant progress in public transport over the past four to five years, including electric scooters, Pakistan’s first electric buses and Pink Buses for women. He said the Green Line had been built before Sindh assumed responsibility for it, but it had not included buses reserved for women. Women faced difficulties when using public transport, he said, and better travel facilities could encourage them to travel and help parents feel satisfied about sending their daughters out for education and work. He said the Sindh government had taken several steps to empower women and improve their access to transport. Asked about Green Line ridership, Memon said that when the service was under the federal government, it carried around 50,000 passengers a day, further noting that since Sindh took over the transport department had worked to improve its performance and the service now carried around 90,000 passengers daily. The senior minister said the Sindh government aimed to begin road construction in every district across the province within the next six to eight months to improve travel facilities. Read More: University Road mixed lane to open soon: Sharjeel Memon said that in Sindh, the government had worked with the Rangers and other law-enforcement agencies to tackle terrorism in Karachi. When conditions worsened in the riverine areas, the government and relevant agencies also conducted operations against bandits. He said kidnapping-for-ransom incidents in Sindh had since declined significantly. Recalling Karachi’s past, the senior minister said the city had once seen 30 to 40 people killed each day, frequent strikes, closures of businesses and educational institutions, and industries relocating elsewhere. Memon said cooperation between the government and the establishment had helped restore peace, adding that Karachi no longer faced daily strikes on the same scale, and terrorist incidents had declined. Memon recalled the bombing at the October 18, 2007 homecoming rally for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in which hundreds of PPP supporters were killed or injured, and her assassination in Rawalpindi later that year. He said the party’s position against terrorism had always been clear. He said Benazir had pledged in her final speeches that Pakistan’s flag would again fly in Swat, where Taliban and extremist groups had expanded their influence. Memon reiterated that the PPP would not remain silent when citizens were suffering from terrorism, innocent people were being killed, and businesses were operating in fear. He described the recent visit to China as successful and said the chief minister would brief the provincial cabinet on it, further stating that the visit aimed to identify opportunities to benefit Pakistan, particularly Sindh and its people. Memon said the Sindh government was working democratically across sectors, including health, education, transport, irrigation and local government, to improve people’s lives.