HYDERABAD: SDF apprises US official of Sindh’s problems
Bureau Report
HYDERABAD, July 22: A delegation of the Sindh Democratic Forum (SDF) met with Richard S. Sacks, Deputy Director for Pakistan and Bangladesh, US department of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, in the State Department office in Washington DC on July 13.
An e-mail received by Dawn’s Hyderabad office on Sunday said that socio-economic and political developments in Sindh and rest of the country were discussed in the meeting.
The delegation, according to the e-mail, told the US official that President Gen Pervez Musharraf was depoliticising the Pakistani society, had ruined the institutions and imposed authoritarian rule, adding that the Pakistani people had reservations about US support to the military dictatorship.
It further said that there was a rift in Pakistan on the issues of provincial autonomy and control over natural resources, which could not be resolved under the 1973 Constitution.
The SDF delegation also highlighted the issues of water sharing between the provinces, the dispute over construction of big dams, National Finance Commission award, Muttahida Qaumi Movement politics, right of Sindhi people to rule over their motherland as well as tribal feuds and honour killings in Sindh.It pointed out that Sindh had nothing to do with terrorism, religious fundamentalism, drug trafficking and human trafficking and no Sindhi was involved in any international crime. It told Mr Sacks that Sindhis were secular, progressive and democratic in soul and spirit and that they were paying a heavy price for not supporting dictatorship.
Condemning recent acts of terrorism, the delegation said that only a genuine democracy in Pakistan could bring sustained peace in the region. It appreciated recent support of USAID for improving education in Sindh and Balochistan, saying that well-educated societies could play a key role in defeating extremism, poverty and illiteracy.
The message the delegation got from the US official was that the US wanted Pakistan’s strategic support for their engagements in the region no matter who was in power, including Gen Musharraf, the e-mail said.
The delegation was informed that Gen Musharraf had promised to conduct free and fair election and that the US had nothing to do with internal affairs of Pakistan.
