30 October 2004	Saturday	15 Ramazan 1425

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HYDERABAD, Oct 29: Awami Tehrik leaders have criticized a proposal to give a legal cover to the jirga system and said that this is tantamount to pushing the province of Sindh into the barbaric era of the Mirs.

In a joint statement issued here on Thursday, Abdul Qadir Ranto, Abrar Qazi and Alam Shah alleged that it appeared as if the authorities were thinking of handing over Karachi to terrorists and the remaining of Sindh to tribal chiefs.

They claimed that if a legal cover was given to the jirga system, chieftains would get the right to kill people and said that it was tantamount to killing an entire nation.

Because of the jirga system, they said, the judiciary was being bypassed and the 5,000-year-old tribal system was being imposed on the people to thwart development and crush fundamental human rights. The leaders called upon the 40 million people of the province to rise against the 'black' law.

JSQM-JSSF: The Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and, its students' wing, the Jeay Sindh Students Federation, called off protest against central jail authorities here on Thursday following a meeting between JSSF leaders and jail officials.

JSSF leaders Faqir Sudheer Tunio, Noor Nabi Halepoto, Suriah Sindhi and others, following talks with Jail superintendent Muzaffar Alam Siddiqui, deputy superintendent and jailers, arrived at the decision that the ugly situation was the result of a misunderstanding.

A press release of the students' wing said that party leaders apologized to the jail superintendent for levelling allegations against him at a press conference, while the jail administration expressed regret for detaining JSQM leaders in the Band Ward. The jail administration purportedly gave their assurance that the prisoners would be given all facilities allowed under the jail manual.