LARKANA, Dec 9: Sindh National Front chairman Mumtaz Bhutto has said that ‘dictators and oppressors are ruling’ the country at a time when democracy has become the norm.

Speaking at a public meeting in Badah on Saturday, he said that the ‘rulers were ruling our country through bombs and bullets’ but added that the practice would not continue any more.

Calling for unity among the Sindhi nationalist forces, he said that the circumstances called for struggle instead of ‘lip service’. “Sitting behind closed doors and using only the ‘sword of tongue’ is tantamount to deceiving people, he said.

“If we do not forge unity even at this juncture, we (the Sindhi people) could be further ‘enslaved’ and would lose everything,” he said. Giving examples, he said that Sindh islands were being sold to foreigners and Sindhi settlements were being demolished in Karachi.

Reiterating his call for Sindhis to stage a long march from Kashmor to Karachi, Mr Bhutto invited his arch rival and niece, Benazir Bhutto, to lead the proposed march and said that the time was ripe for homecoming of the PPP leader. If she did not return, the pro-Sindh parties should come closer for what he called taking a ‘decisive’ step, he said.