MATIARI: Central leaders of Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) have urged the federal government to announce a ‘Sindh package’ immediately and claimed that Sindh Assembly has been in session for the past 80 days only to provide an alibi to legislators at the expense of public money to dodge call-up notices issued by National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

GDA leader Pir Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi said in his brief speech at the residence of Jalal Shah Jamote here on Wednesday that GDA had challenged PPP and got the second highest number of votes but nobody knew where the votes had gone. He vowed to take GDA to next polls and dispelled the impression that alliance had been eliminated.

He said the Hur Jamaat fully supported Pakistan army as they were protectors of frontiers and were sacrificing their lives fighting terrorists. “Pakistan is our identity and we owe everything to this country,” he said.

GDA’s Sadruddin Shah Rashdi said the alliance would provide alternative leadership to Sindh and would live up to peoples’ expectations. The GDA remained the alternative platform for masses in Sindh, he said.

GDA secretary general Ayaz Latif Palijo told journalists that the meeting condemned Indian aggression and paid tribute to valiant soldiers for protecting the country’s frontiers.

He said in an allusion to ruling PPP that by nominating a woman from a religious minority in Tharparkar they wanted to hoodwink people into ignoring the fact that thousands of newborn babies had died in Thar and continued to die of preventable diseases.

He said that PPP was least bothered about the cases of Ramsha Wassan, Tania Khaskheli, Naila Rind, Khadijah and others because they believed they had already done enough for woman by making a minority woman member of Sindh Assembly.

He said that Sindh Assembly had been in session for the past 80 days and spent Rs4.5 million daily only to provide an opportunity to their favourites to meet their friends. Today’s session was being held only to see Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari meeting assembly members, he said.

He said that GDA demanded the federal government announce a ‘Sindh package’ for development work, jobs and budgetary allocations to benefit people of the province.

GDA was ready to participate in upcoming local government polls and the alliance condemned nagging water shortage in Badin, Tando Mohammad Khan and Umerkot where billions had been spent on projects to divert water flows to the lands of influential persons, he said.

He termed ‘token’ the ongoing action against the corrupt in Sindh and said if the action went on at this pace it would take hundreds of years to bring hundreds of corrupt persons to justice in Sindh.

Dr Safdar Abbasi said that GDA remained alternative political platform for Sindh because it was the real opposition to PPP. The alliance would hold its next meeting in Larkana on April 11 and thereafter step up activities across the province, he said.

He made it clear Larkana did not belong to any particular caste or personality and called for improving internal water management. People of Sindh would hold ‘Zardari tola’ accountable for sipho­ning off Rs2,000 billion, which was Sindh’s share in NFC award, he said.

Hasnain Mirza argued that everyone knew how mandate of GDA was stolen and handed over to ‘Ladlas’ of Sindh.

“They (PPP) claim in Islamabad they are true representatives of Sindh and use Sindh card,” but Sindh was not a card that was used to avoid the NAB’s noose and call-up notices.

He said that Badin was made to face acute water shortage under a conspiracy because ample water flows were available at Kotri Barrage. Despite expenditure of Rs6bn on Water Sector Improve­ment Project people were being punished for expressing their ‘free will’ in polls, he said.

He said that Rs730m a year were spent on Sindh Assembly where legislators could not even raise the issue of drinking water but this situation would not last long as rulers would have to respond to voice of democrats.

He said in answer to a question that there were some points in the 18th Amendment that needed to be debated. PTI government would need two-thirds majority to amend the 18th Amendment.

He said that many had approa­ched the apex court requesting it to define the amendment. Before this amendment Sindh had 41,000 schools and today it had 38,000.

Dr Mirza said that GDA would keep fighting for neglected people of Sindh and would soon “bury the corrupt”.

People of Badin would soon get their share of water, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2019