NAUSHAHRO FEROZE, March 23: The Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz Chairman, Basheer Khan Qureshi, said on Friday that the Punjab was exploiting the smaller provinces by usurping their resources.

Mr Qureshi said while addressing a gathering in Bhirya town after the Paigham-i-Sindh caravan reached the town that the government had sold off Sindh's islands and the Punjab had occupied the province’s resources.

The caravan organised by the JSQM started from Sukkur on foot and would reach Karachi after making brief stops at all the towns and cities on its route.

He said that the independent international observers could ascertain the fact that the province’s seaports, industries and government departments had an overwhelming number of employees from Punjab while people of Sindh were discouraged from getting jobs at these organisations.

Mr Qureshi said that the objective of the caravan was not to beg for votes, "you may vote for anybody. We are not afraid of any government and will continue our struggle,"

He said that the government had gifted Sindh’s lands to army men while poverty was driving Sindhis to commit suicide. The agencies had disappeared nationalist leaders and workers including Dr Safdar Sarki and no one knew whether they were dead or alive, he said.

Unfortunately Pakistan had been turned into a sanctuary for terrorism, he said and added that his party and people of this land "are followers of Shah Latif who has prayed for the prosperity of the entire humankind.”

Dr Niaz Kalani also spoke at the gathering, which was attended by about 1,500 to 2,000 people. The Paigham-i-Sindh caravan will spend night at a hotel on Naushahro Feroze bypass and leave for Moro on Saturday morning.

Earlier, speaking to a gathering at Star Chowk in Kandiaro on Thursday night JSQM chairman said that people had awakened. They were giving overwhelming response to the caravan, he said.

A large number of women led by Ms Roshni, sister of JSQM’s missing leader Asif Baladi, reached Kandiaro on Friday and presented the Holy Book to Mr Bashir.