HYDERABD: Sindh United Party (SUP) convener Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah has assailed what he claimed to be the nexus between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in corruption and questioned the reputation and credibility of the ruling party. He said the two parties were two sides of the same coin.

He was speaking to the participants in SUP’s ‘Sindh march against corruption, religious extremism and terrorism’ here on Sunday. The participants held the march from Hirabad to Hyder Chowk.

Mr Shah said that unless the state addressed the question of its separation from religion, the issue of religious extremism would remain unresolved.

He said the Sindh government did not allow SUP to hold this march in Karachi on Feb 14. He claimed that the government was scared and wanted no one to challenge its credibility. He observed that corrupt politicians and unscrupulous bureaucracy were seen in a contest, adding that it was not Qaum parasti (nationalism) but Rishwat parasti (bribe culture) that posed a threat to the country.

“Nationalists love their motherland,” he argued, and referred to his grandfather [Jeay Sindh Tehreek founder chairman] G.M. Syed’s philosophy of nationalism as a non-violent movement.

“We don’t want to be used as proxy ... rulers have taken Sindh as a booty while nationalists consider politics as a source of serving society,” he said.

The SUP chief accused PPP of pitting Urdu- and Sindhi-speaking communities against each other. “SUP wants to unite people and take Sindh on the path of progress,” he said.

He observed that after Operation Zarb-i-Azb, the Operation Raddul Fassad had been launched but SUP believed that unless the state addressed the question of its separation from religion, this conflict would keep affecting it.

He said his party would not accept any geographical change of Sindh’s boundaries.

Other SUP leaders including Zainul Abideen Shah, Secretary General Roshan Buriro, Dr Dodo Mahri and Samreen Bhutto, also spoke.They said Sindh was part of the federation and wanted its right over its resources. They urged the establishment to “give up patronising corrupt politicians” and demanded holding of transparent elections. They called on Pakistan, India and Afghanistan to form an antiterrorism alliance.

The participants in the march adopted several resolutions demanding an end to a nexus between terrorism and corruption and separation of religion from the state.

One resolution held the Sindh government responsible for the Sehwan tragedy and observed that there was no security at the shrine. It claimed that the death toll increased due to unavailability of medical assistance to victims.

Another resolution said that those who committed corruption in the PPP government should be brought to justice, their properties be confiscated and they should be disqualified for politics.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2017