KHAIRPUR, Jan 23: The president of the Sindh chapter of the People's Party Parliamentarians, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, has said that the Balochistan crisis should be settled through talks and any army operation will harm national integrity.

Talking to a group of newsmen here on Saturday, he said the people of Balochistan had been deprived of their rights and it was the government's responsibility to remove their sense of deprivation by holding talks with Baloch leaders.

He said the talks by the government's committee with the Baloch leadership had failed as it had not been able to reach at any political decision. Mr Shah suggested that the government should hold separate talks with Akbar Bugti and other Baloch leaders.

Talking about a criminal assault on a lady doctor in Sui, he said the government should be clear on the issue and mere conducting of meaningless inquiries would not satisfy the people.

He said the PPP policy was that local bodies' election should be held on the political basis and if they were conducted on the non-political basis the party would actively participate in it.

He said he was confident that the PPP would be successful in these elections if they were free, fair and impartial. Mr Shah said the Sindh government had failed to provide relief to public and added that the government's failure to recover kidnapped judges had increased sense of insecurity among people.

He said the government's so-called merit policy was a big lie as deserving candidates remain deprived of opportunities. He said democracy had not been restored in the country and claim for its restoration was just propaganda.

Talking about the call for strike on Jan 24 by the Sindhi nationalists, he said it was a good move but the PPP being a national party had a different political policy.

MINISTER: Sindh Minister for Construction and Communication Sadaruddin Shah Rashdi has said that people will support the Pakistan Muslim League (F) in coming elections because the party has solved their problems.