KARACHI, Dec 12: The Sindh National Party on Sunday took out a rally demanding that the province be given its share in the National Finance Commission on the basis of resources and not on the basis of population.

The rally, which commenced from cantonment railway station, and terminated at the Press Club, was led by the party chairman, Amir Bhambhro, and was participated by its other leaders.

In a resolution adopted during the rally, the SNP also demanded autonomy for the province on the basis of the 1940 resolution. It deplored the mounting incidence of terrorism, kidnapping etc, in the province, and demanded that the Sindh government be dismissed immediately. Recovery of the abducted judges of Shikarpur was also demanded in the resolution.

The rally also rejected greater Thal Canal and Kalabagh Dam projects, terming these detrimental to the country's interest, and demanded that Sindh should get water according to the 1945 accord.

The rally also demanded that expatriates be sent back to their respective countries. It also demanded that ban on jobs should be abolished, and industries be set up to provide jobs to the people of the province.

It also demanded strict adherence to the quota fixed for the province in the federal and provincial services. The rally also demanded true democracy in the country and peaceful negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue.

Speaking at the rally, Mr Bhambhro said that the people of Sindh had supported the 1940 resolution with the hope that a Muslim state would liberate the people from exploiters, but regretted that the dream had not been translated into reality.

He also cited the figures of sindh's contribution to the federal divisible pool since 1997, which was estimated at Rs996.40 billion. In return, however, he claimed that Sindh got only Rs139.68 billion, which was 13 per cent of its contribution.

As against that, the Punjab contributed Rs365.5 billion, but it received Rs346.57 billion or 94 per cent. Even on population basis, Sindh should have got 23 per cent from the divisible pool, but it received only 13 per cent, which was unjust. He was also critical of what he called usurpation of Sindh's resources by vested interests.