August 21, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 18, 1429

HYDERABAD, Aug 20: The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum has accused an influential landlord of Nawabshah and his men of depriving 12,000 fishermen of what they called their ‘inherent’ right of fishing in Chotiyari reservoir.

Addressing a news conference here on Wednesday, Mohammad Ayoub Mallah and other leaders of the forum said that the atrocities unleashed by Qasim Zardari and the Sanghar police had been publicised by the electronic and print media but the government had failed to take any action.

They said that in February 18 general elections, fishermen had taken a revolutionary step and voted for People’s Party candidate for National Assembly Ghulam Mohammad Gul Junejo who obtained maximum number of votes from six polling stations where the PPP candidate had never received a single vote in previous elections.

Though Junejo lost the elections, thousands of fishermen had voted for him and he won in the area dominated by fishermen, the forum leaders said.

Despite that, they alleged, ‘Qasim Zardari mafia’ had come from Nawabshah and occupied the Chotiyari reservoir without any legal authority.

They alleged that the landlord had restricted the movements of 12,000 fishermen and their families for the last one month.

They claimed that seven leaders of the forum, including Ramzan Mallah and Ghulam Qadir Mallah, were held in wrongful confinement for ten days.

It was only on Tuesday that their remand was taken from the court and they were thrown into detention where Ghulam Qadir fell unconscious, they alleged and added that he was not being provided any medical treatment.

The forum leaders said that DPO Waliullah who, they said, was a conscientious officer, was transferred and the DPO of Larkana Altaf Laghari was posted in Sanghar who, they said, was supporting Qasim Zardari.

They claimed that a few days ago when a meeting was held in the office of the DPO, Qasim Zardari was asked to show any document validating his occupation of the reservoir, his reply was: “It is our government and therefore the fish is also ours”.

They alleged that Qasim Zardari had established checkposts on paths leading to the reservoir and was harassing people.

The leaders of the forum said that it had planned a protest movement from August 19, but postponed it as Sindh Fisheries Minister Zahid Ali Bhurgari had assured the president of the forum, Mohammad Ali Shah, that he himself would visit Sanghar on August 21, and would ensure that no excesses were committed against fishermen.

They said the minister had also given orders on telephone to the DPO to release the arrested forum leaders but these orders were also rejected.

“We will wait up to August 21 and if the grievances of fishermen are not resolved by the minister, we will start protest movement,” the forum leaders said.

They appealed to Asif Zardari to order a high-level inquiry in the matter and provide justice to the fishermen of Sanghar district.

They demanded arrest of Qasim Zardari and DPO Altaf Laghari to restore the image of the PPP.

They appealed to human rights organisations and political parties to take notice of the violation of fundamental human rights of fishermen.