February 24, 2008	Sunday	Safar 16, 1429

THATTA, Feb 23: A large number of peasants and labourers carrying sickles and spades along with the PPP activists took out a procession in Gharo town on Saturday to remind the Shirazis to honour their commitment to give up politics if defeated by PPP candidate Sassui Palijo from Mirpur Sakro in polls.

Raising slogans against caretaker provincial minister Syed Aijaz Ali Shah Shirazi and his brother, Thatta district nazim Syed Shafqat Hussain Shah Shirazi, the protesters staged a sit-in on the National Highway.

Traffic on the highway remained suspended for more than an hour due to the protest.

The peasants and labourers claimed that the Shirazis had made their lives miserable by stopping water supply to their lands.

They said that during the election campaign the Shirazi brothers at various pubic meetings had said that they would leave politics forever if People’s Party candidate Sassui Palijo defeated them from Mirpur Sakro. They demanded of the Shirazi brothers now to honour their commitment and shun politics forever.

They said the people had fed up with the excesses and atrocities of the Shirazis and warned that if they did not stop victimising the poor people of Mirpur Sakro, there will be a great protest against them and people would take extreme action to get rid of them.

They claimed that the Shirazis had abused authority, used state machinery to defeat their rival candidates and the time is ripe now to bring them to accountability and recover national wealth looted by them.

It may be mentioned here that Sassui Palijo has defeated the Shirazi group’s candidate second time from Mirpur Sakro in the elections.