HYDERABAD: Growers and politicians assembled at the residence of Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Dr Rahila Magsi on Thursday and gave the Sindh government and sugar mills’ owners a three-day ultimatum to ensure procurement of sugar cane at the official rate and resumption of the cane crushing process.

If the government and sugar mails failed to come to our terms, a province-wide campaign of sit-ins would be launched on Jan 12, they warned.

The event, presided over by former chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, was attended by another former chief minister Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi, former National Assembly speaker Illahi Bux Soomro, Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Shaharyar Mahar, MQM coordination committee member Ghazi Salah­uddin, Qaumi Awami Teh­reek leader Ayaz Latif Palijo, Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party chief Dr Qadir Magsi, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz senior vice chairman Dr Niaz Kalani, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf leader Syed Hafeezuddin, Shafqat Shah Shirazi, SAB president Abdul Majeed Nizamani, PML-Functional lawmaker Nusrat Sehar Abbasi, Sindh Sugarcane Growers Associa­tion chairman Qurban Ali Shah and a large number of cane growers from across Sindh.

Many of the political leaders spoke at the gathering and severely criticised the Sindh government for not being able to implement the official cane price, thus causing heavy losses to growers.

Dr Arbab remarked that as long as PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was there, the rate of sugar cane could not go up.

“It is, in fact, the question of an individual’s interests who owns 17 of the total sugar mills in Sindh. The other sugar mills are forced to defy the official notification regarding the price,” he claimed.

Shaharyar Mahar obser­v­ed that ‘there is the worst type of dictatorship in Sindh”.

He said the provincial government was not complying with the Sindh Assembly resolutions on the prices of cane and IRRI variety.

He said the Pakistan Peoples Party was managing Sindh like an ‘enemy territory’. He said all departments including those held by the chief minister stood destroyed.

Ghazi Salahuddin of the MQM said people of Sindh should ask themselves why they did not choose right people.

“When we [MQM] talk, we are branded as terrorists and others are allowed to do anything only because they are Sindhis. Pakhtuns can rule over Sindh but Urdu-speaking Sindhis cannot. Let’s think over it,” he said, adding that the present government was interested in ‘maal’ (making money) alone and not issues.

Liaquat Jatoi observed that rice and cotton crops were also facing destruction as growers were being denied a reasonable price for their produce. “All this is taking place under a conspiracy,” he claimed, and remarked that the so-called ‘democrats’ had destroyed Sindh.

Dr Rahila Magsi said Asif Zardari should open his eyes and see how people were suffering and reacting. “Mills in other provinces are crushing cane without any controversy. Here in Sindh, there is a controversy because the government and [sugar] mills both belong to one and same party. They are committing injustices with the people who had repeatedly voted for them in the name of the Bhuttos,” she said.

Shafqat Shirazi alleged that Asif Zardari’s through his manager had occupied 130,000 acres of forest lands in Badin, Sujawal, Tando Mohammad Khan and Thatta and intended to grab another 350,000 acres to cultivate sugar cane in order to end dependence on other growers.

Ayaz Latif Palijo said that under a conspiracy, growers were being made to sell away their lands. He said Mr Zardari, who owned 17 sugar mills, and his other team members owning the other sugar mills, wanted to dictate their terms to growers. He alleged that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had sold out Sindh to Asif Zardari.

MPA Nusrat Sehar Abbasi said that government had forced growers to take to the streets.

Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) vice president Mahmood Nawaz Shah in his emotional speech said growers didn’t know what they should do after investing billions of rupees in the sugar cane crop, which was now 15 months old.

The participants vowed to launch a vigorous campaign to force the government and sugar mills owners to desist from injustices being caused to growers.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2015

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