KARACHI: Several hundred people took part in a rally organised by the Sindh Action Committee (SAC) on Sunday at Fawwara Chowk against “anti-Sindh” projects and the controversial Pakistan Islands Dev­elopment Authority (PIDA) Ordinance.

The Sindh government was urged to take up the issue of the islands before Council of Common Interests (CCI).

The rally started from Gora Qabrustan on main Sharea Faisal and culminated at Governor House, where SAC leaders delivered speeches.

The vehicular traffic moving towards Tower was diverted from Metropole Hotel to Saddar and M.A. Jinnah Road causing inconveniences to commuters.

The protesters, including women, carried banners inscribed with slogans such as ‘Save islands, Save Sindh,’ ‘Release missing persons’, etc.

Speaking at the rally, SAC chairman Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah termed the federal government’s move to control islands of Sindh an “anti-Sindh” policy that tantamount to the “economic murder of fishermen”.

He said that the presidential ordinance about the islands authority was contrary to the Constitution and urged the prime minister to take it back.

Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party (STP) chief Dr Qadir Magsi asked Governor Imran Ismail to persuade the federal government to withdraw the ordinance as the “islands are inseparable part of Sindh”.

He said that a new organisation had been formed in Karachi and apprehended that a conspiracy was being hatched to spread ethnic hatred in the province.

“We will not become part of the conspiracy of bloodshed being hatched by Islamabad,” he said.

Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) chief Sanan Qureshi said that the protest would continue till the withdrawal of the PIDA ordinance.

He warned that if the ordinance was not withdrawn, they would be compelled to spread their protest across Sindh.

Sindh United Party (SUP) leader Syed Zain Shah said that the PIDA ordinance was a move by the centre to control the islands of Sindh and Balochistan but the people of Sindh would not accept any ordinance contrary to the Constitution.

He alleged that former president and Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was also involved in “selling the islands of Sindh”.

Jeay Sindh Mahaz leader Riaz Chandio also accused the PPP of being “part of the game”.

“People of Sindh will not forgive Asif Ali Zardari,” he said.

Resolution

A resolution passed at the rally said that the PIDA Ordinance was a controversial and unconstitutional law.

Declaring that the ordinance “practically aimed at changing the borders of Sindh”, the resolution demanded its withdrawal.

It also called for a survey of the islands so that it could be made part of the land revenue record.

It urged the Sindh government to take up the issue of islands before the CCI to decide about its ownership.

The resolution also urged the authorities for “immediate release” of all missing persons belonging to Sindh.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2020