HYDERABAD: Sindh Taraqi-pasand Party (STP) chairman Dr Qadir Magsi said on Monday that settlement of outsiders had destroyed peace in Sindh, but this issue and that of Sindhi language and rights of natural resources had never been on the agenda of the federal government.

Talking to various delegations at the STP House, he said the settlement of immigrants in Sindh had hit the civilisation, culture and history of the province very hard. But the government was not sincere in expelling Afghan refugees and other immigrants from Sindh and those refugees had set up seminaries, which were fanning religious extremism and producing Taliban, he added.

He said the Pakhtun culture had produced criminal elements and drug dealers were shifting from Kabul, Qandahar, Peshawar and Bajaur to Sindh. All those immigrants were occupying Sindh’s resources, development and trade while the government had provided them national identity cards, domiciles and passports as well as jobs, he alleged.

He said Sindhi language was a historic and rich language, but the rulers of Sindh were not ready to adopt a resolution for the language, which was spoken by millions all over the world and many newspapers, magazines and books were published in Sindhi language.

The STP chief said it was an admitted fact that Sindh was a rich province, but so-called leaders of Sindh had given hunger, starvation, lawlessness, terrorism and joblessness to the people of Sindh.

He said STP workers should expedite the pace of their struggle over these issues.

JSM slams crackdown on nationalists

Jeay Sindh Mahaz-Riaz (JSM-R) chairman Riaz Chandio and other leaders on Monday condemned a crackdown initiated against peaceful nationalist workers a few ago.

In a statement issued here, they said fake cases were registered against them and only recently Ubaidullah Kori, brother of the Mirpurkhas district JSM vice president, and his cousin Bilal Kori were arrested, but their whereabouts still remained unknown.

The state forgave those involved in bloodshed, but made lives of peaceful followers of G.M.Syed miserable, they said.

They warned that if Mirpurkhas police did not stop their highhandedness, the JSM would protest. They urged human rights organisations to take notice of the disappearance of Ubaidullah Kori and Bilal Kori.

DHO told to suspend absent LHW

On the first day of four-day anti-polio campaign on Monday, Hyderabad Divisional Commissioner (DC) Qazi Shahid Pervez asked district health officer (DHO) to suspend an absent lady health worker (LHW) and take a stern action against union council medical officer (UCMO) for shirking duties.

Issuing these directives while paying surprise visits to various localities of the district, he asked DHO Abdul Jalil Bachani that LHW Rubina, who frequently remained absent and failed to report even during the current drive, must be suspended. UCMO Dr Umar who did not provide ample details regarding anti-polio teams must explain in this regard, he said.

The DC directed the DHO to make the drive successful by making proper arrangements and taking appropriate action against negligent officials. He visited areas of Hyderabad and gained first-hand knowledge from anti-polio teams about achieving the target. If any official showed negligence, strict action would be taken against them, he stressed.

He pleaded for eradication of polio from society by achieving 100 per cent target. He asked the LHWs and vaccinators to visit house to house and administer anti-polio drops to children under the age of five years.

The DC said that every team member must fulfil his/her duty enthusiastically and honestly.

During the four-day drive, total 310,599 children would be vaccinated against polio in the Hyderabad district from Aug 29 to Sept 1.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2016