HYDERABAD: Jeay Sindh Mahaz (JSM) chairman Abdul Khaliq Junejo has called for implementation of the Lahore Resolution in letter and spirit by restoring autonomous status of federating units to ensure peace, progress and harmony.

Junejo, along with the party’s vice chairman Prof Ameer Chandio, secretary general Hashim Khoso and others, said at a news conference at local press club the other day that Sindh had given birth to Pakistan and not vice versa because Pakistan was created when Sindh shared its sovereignty along with other units with Pakistan. He said that it was a voluntary act which was known as the Lahore Resolution and that was why March 23 was observed as a great day to date. Rulers not only did not follow that basic agreement but violated all such agreements and decisions unilaterally, he said.

He said that Sindh had objected to 1973 Constitution when it was being drafted whilst rulers had celebrated it. The federation kept amending the Constitution to leave provinces with fewer ministries, he said

The party leaders said that the resolution envisaged confederation but on the contrary Pakistan had become the worst centralised state in the name of federation as an outcome of bad governance of 75 years.

They urged writers and intellectuals to align themselves with Sindh’s national movement and play a proactive role on the pattern of anti One-Unit struggle.

Extremism and terrorism was being backed in Sindh with the help of outsiders under state patronage and outsiders from other provinces and countries were being settled in Sindh to convert Sindhis into minority in their own homeland, they said. They announced that JSM would stage a rally in Hyderabad on Sept 17 against influx of outsiders in Sindh.

Published in Dawn, August 23th, 2023