KARACHI: The Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STP) on Sunday held a protest demonstration and staged a sit-in outside Governor House against the federal government’s move to take control of the twin islands off Karachi’s coast.

The protesters, led by party chief Dr Qadir Magsi, chanted slogans and presented a memorandum to a representative of the Sindh government, urging the president to withdraw the recently promulgated Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) Ordinance.

Talking to the media, Dr Magsi said that since the governor was not available, they submitted the memorandum to his representative.

The memorandum says: “Establishment of PIDA is an act against the Constitution of Pakistan. It is beyond comprehension that the federation uses a monarchical order to illegally encroach the islands, which are constitutionally established and declared provincial territories.”

The STP was of the view that it was not advisable for the president to hold meetings with investors at the Sindh Governor House and motivating them to illegally encroach and invest on the islands.

The party urged the president to immediately withdraw the PIDA ordinance to end uncertainty among the people of Sindh.

“There has already been tremendous poverty and sense of deprivation among the people of Sindh for giving away precious lands to the federation to accommodate the KPT, PSM, Airport, NHA, PTCL, Wapda and railways etc. It will create very painful situation for the people of Sindh if islands were encroached and forcefully taken by the federation against the will of local fishermen, people of Sindh and the government of Sindh,” reads the memorandum.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2020