KARACHI, April 6: Speakers at a conference urged the government to take effective measures for the restoration of peaceful conditions in Lyari Town. Entitled Peace and Lyari, the conference was organized by the Sindh National Council and chaired by its leader Dr Dodo Mehri. The speakers attributed the ongoing gang-war and lawlessness in Lyari to the ‘crime mafias’ indulged in promoting drug trafficking. At the same time, they argued, the government could not absolve itself from the responsibility to establish it’s writ. They said that the recurring incidents of killings and lawlessness had forced many families to move out of the area.

They regretted that the image of the locality was being tarnished and a false impression was being created that “it is a haven for criminal elements.” In fact, they said, the locality had always been an ‘island of peace’ which had produced great personalities like Sir Haji Abdullah Haroon and Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi. After the Partition also, Lyari had played a significant role in the struggle of democracy and towards achieving national rights for Sindh and Balochistan.

The speakers criticized the role of political parties which, they said, had failed to perform their duties. They stressed the need for unity among people to foil conspiracies being hatched by vested interests to pit them against each other.

They were of the view that the performance of elected representatives was not up to the mark, and claimed that they were merely interested in minting money and seeking privileges while their constituencies still lacking essential basic facilities like water and power.

Those who spoke at the conference included Hussain Bakhsh Thebo, Bagh Ali Bughio and Lal Bakhsh Rind alias Comrade Lala Rind.

In his concluding remarks, Dr Dodo Mehri highlighted the importance of Lyari Town and role of its people in the freedom movement and struggle for democracy.

He observed that crime mafias had hatched a conspiracy to destroy peaceful conditions in Lyari so that people of the locality could not play any role in the struggle of Sindh and Balochistan for their rights.

He urged youth of the locality to come forward and expose anti- people conspiracies by holding peace rallies in the area.

The conference also adopted a number of resolutions demanding effective measures against unemployment among the youth and water shortage in Lyari.

It also opposed the division of Hyderabad into four districts and urged people foil conspiracies against Sindh with full unity.