KARACHI, July 8: The Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) has demanded that provinces should be granted autonomy as promised in the 1940 resolution.

This demand was one among its other resolutions adopted in the association’s annual convention.

A copy of resolutions sent to Dawn said the convention expressed concern over lingering dictatorship in Pakistan and demanded that the country should be immediately returned to true and unadulterated democracy.

It sought equal opportunities for all political parties, groups and their leaders to participate in the national political process.

The convention was of the view that the military rule was harmful for the future of the country and could weaken its foundations.

It also demanded an immediate end to the military operation in Balochistan and held that a similar operation 26 years ago had resulted in the bifurcation of the country.

The resolution also asked the government to stop constructing dams on the river Indus as according to the international as well as Sharia laws that a river always belonged to the lower riparian people.

Time had come for the government to close the chapter of the Kalabagh dam and scrap other mega dam projects and the Greater Thal Canal, it said.

One of the resolutions demanded that Sindhi be accorded the status of a national language as it was a highly-developed language and had remained an official language of Sindh even during the foreign rule.

SANA also demanded immediate release of political workers and rights activist Dr Safdar Sarki and other political workers picked up by government agencies.

The annual convention of the association was held in Toronto, Canada. The convention was largely attended.