HYDERABAD: Activists of different nationalist parties that made up Sindh Action Committee (SAC) and its leaders staged a token hunger strike here on Saturday in protest against formation of parliamentary committee for the creation of new provinces and Sindh Assembly’s adoption of resolutions for Article 144 and 147, which was a step to rollback of the 18th Amendment.
SAC leaders Ayaz Latif Palijo, Roshan Buriro, Masroor Shah, Nazeer Qureshi, Dr Aziz Talpur and others said that they would foil all conspiracies being hatched against the province, which had remained undivided for centuries.
Ayaz Latif said that Asif Ali Zardari only craved for wealth and was least bothered about the plight of Sindhi people and their issues of agriculture, education, employment and natural resources.
He said that Zardari and his ilk were out to sell everything. PPP had been thrust over Sindh for last 15 years to loot the provinces’ resources. The party had handed back resources of Sindh to federal government through the Sindh Assembly resolutions for Article 144 and 147 and effectively had done away with provincial autonomy yet it claimed to be champion of the 18th Amendment, he said.
He maintained that PPP was taking the decision without seeking opinion of Sindhi people. The committee for new provinces was an anti-Sindh step and the Sindh Assembly’s adoption of the illegal resolution was tantamount to robbery over the province’s resources, he said.
Palijo said that National Assembly speaker should desist from attacking integrity of Sindh by having formed the committee. People of Sindh should wake up to seek their rights and start struggle on roads, he said.
Taj Joyo of Sindhi Adabi Sangat said that PPP adopted the resolution about functions of provinces as described in Article 144 and 147 which was a step toward rollback of the 18th Amendment.
Roshan Buriro said that PPP was attacking Sindh’s integrity for political gains.
Published in Dawn, january 8th, 2023
