KARACHI: The Sindh United Party (SUP) on Wednesday announced that it would hold a multi-party conference (MPC) on July 30 against the process of allotting 5,000 to 6,000 acres of land near Hawkesbay to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

SUP president Zain Shah said this while addressing a big protest rally in the Hawkesbay area.

Hundreds of residents of over 45 villages established in Deh Allah Banu, Deh Mendiari and Deh Chhatara in district Keamari participated in the protest rally.

The participants belonged to Bhand, Kalamati, Khaskheli and Brohi communities. They chanted slogans against the provincial government for allotting the land which they said belonged to them.

Mr Shah said that evicting the residents of ancient villages on the coastal belt of the city was tantamount to erasing the identity of the province.

Scores of people attend nationalist party’s protest rally at Hawkesbay

He came down heavily on the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government and said that it was planning to encroach upon the land of the poor residents instead of protecting their rights.

“The PPP got their votes to form the government, but they are not being given ownership rights to their houses where they have lived for over a century,” he deplored.

The SUP chief told the participants that they should fight to protect their land peacefully, assuring them that the party would never leave them alone.

“We will not accept the eviction of the people who have lived here for hundreds of years,” he added.

Mr Shah said that the provincial government did not have any authority to seize the land of the province and added the PPP had been given provincial government under an “agreement”.

He said that a constitutional petition had already been filed in the Sindh High Court against the illegal occupation of villagers’ land. “We hope that the judiciary would do justice,” he added.

SUP General Secretary Jagdish Ahuja said that the move to allot land of the coastal belt to DHA was creating hatred between people and the institutions.

He urged the provincial government to immediately withdraw this decision and give ownership rights to the victims.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2024