May 15, 2006	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1427

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THATTA, May 14: Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Palijo has said that unending atrocities of the state against the people of Sindh, government’s failure to release water into the Indus, demolition of old settlements and usurpation of the legitimate rights of Sindhis are part of a greater agenda and a conspiracy to convert Sindhis into a minority.

Speaking at a rally here on Sunday, Mr Palijo said that masses would never get their rights till the dictatorial government of General Pervez Musharraf and his team was in power.

Recalling history right from the British rule in the sub-continent, pre-and post-partition political scenarios and army rule over the country, Mr Palijo contended that dictators could never deliver the goods and Musharraf, too, would continue to govern through his engineered democracy by using PML. He reminded President Musharraf that history was bound to take its own course, adding that the ill-advised general should learn from the fate of his predecessor General Ayub Khan.

The Awami Tehrik chief said only true representatives of the people elected through fair and impartial elections were capable to pull the country out of crises and apprehended that the next general elections would not be held in a fair and free manner.

He said through a well-thought out conspiracy, water to Indus was not being released even during the ongoing sowing season of Kharif, with the intention to deprive the growers of their agricultural land.

He said that aim of an ethnic group in Sindh, which is also partner of the ruling coalition, was set to purchase these fertile lands on a throw away price.

Expressing his astonishment over Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s celebration of Jashn-i-Latif in interior of Sindh, Mr Palijo questioned as to why the chief of this political group was not raising his voice against government’s failure to release water into the Indus, construction of Kalabagh dam and Thal canal, demolition of Sindhi settlements and police brutality against protesting women and children of Dadu and Thatta Sugar Mills workers in front of the governor’s house in Karachi by the police?

In fact, Altaf Hussain was befooling and betraying the Sindhi people, he added.

People’s Party Parliamentarians MPA Sassui Palijo and deputy leader of opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman, who also addressed the rally, blasted the government for demolition of old Sindhi settlements in Karachi and the proposed division of Thatta district and pledged that PPP would never remain a silent spectator over these issues.

They said while Sindh was experiencing worst kind of water crises General Musharraf, much against the wish of the people of Sindh, was insisting on construction of controversial projects. The PPP leaders said thinking of their party and Awami Tehrik was almost same on issues faced by Sindh, that’s why they had joined hands on a number of occasions. The General Secretary of Awami Tehrik, Dada Qadir Ranto, Ms Nazeer Qureshi, Apa Maryam Majidi, Iqbal Shah and others also spoke on the occasion. Earlier, Rasool Bux Palijo led the rally and marched from Makli to Thatta town. The protesters staged a sit-in on the National Highway where leaders delivered their speeches. The sit-in resulted in suspension of traffic for two hours.