HYDERABAD, July 29: Muttahida Quami Movement chief Altaf Hussain has called for a constituent assembly having equal representation from all the four provinces for re-writing a new constitution to ensure full provincial autonomy to all the provinces in the true sense of the 1940 Pakistan Resolution.

He was speaking to a gathering of people, including women, intellectuals and journalists, in Jhudo town over the telephone from London on Monday.

He said that the centre could only be made stronger by strengthening the provinces.

He said that his party would field Sindhi-speaking candidates from its stronghold in the forthcoming general election.

He said that Sindh contributed 70 per cent to the centre but when the people of Sindh demanded their rights they were branded as “traitors”.

He claimed that his party was struggling against tyranny which was why he was being dubbed as a traitor.

Mr Altaf said that Punjab had enslaved the people of the other three provinces on the basis of its population, and added that it had created a sense of deprivation among the people of the smaller provinces.

He stressed the need for strengthening the provinces in order to make the federation stronger so that the country would not have to depend on the strict policies of the IMF and the World Bank.

He called for an end to the injustices against the masses.

He asked the establishment to give equal rights to the people of Sindh and Balochistan.

He condemned the arrests of Bashir Khan Qureshi and other activists of the MQM and the JSQM, who were sent to jail for demanding water for Sindh province.

He flayed those rulers who did not criticise army generals like Ziaul Haq, Ayub Khan, and Gen Pervez Musharraf.

He said that the army generals always took benefits whether they were serving the army or after retirement, while a large number of people lived below the poverty line.

He called for following the principle of parity among the four provinces in the larger interest of the integrity and solidarity of Pakistan.