HYDERABAD, Oct 2: The opposition leader in Sindh Assembly, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, has reiterated that his party would never strike any deal with the generals, who have been violating the unanimously-approved Constitution of the country.

Mr Khuhro said at an Iftar party hosted in his honour by Zulfiqar Halepoto, secretary of Sindh Democratic Forum (SDF) that the present rulers and their allies had completely failed to initiate even a single mega project in Sindh, provide good governance and ensure protection of basic human rights.

Mr Khuhro said that the upcoming general elections were very crucial for Sindhis and might help decide Sindhis’ right to rule over their land. Conspiracies were afoot to disintegrate the province and convert Sindhis into an insignificant minority, he feared.

He appealed to civil society, intelligentsia, writers, educationists and technocrats of the province to support the common national agenda for social, economic and political development of Sindh.

He said that the joint opposition had reached agreement on one-point agenda to get rid of Musharraf before the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) gave him a new lease of life by aiding him in getting his rule extended for another five years.

He said that the MMA, which was criticising Pakistan People’s Party, sought votes in the name of the holy book but later deceived people by strengthening Gen Musharraf through 17th amendment.

He criticised Sharif brothers saying that the so-called champions of democracy signed an agreement and then backed out because they had kept people in the dark for seven years and then came up with the revelation that the agreement they had signed required them to be out of country for five years and not 10 years.

Dr Qadir Magsi, chairman of the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, said that Sindh was under severe socio-economic and political pressures. It was collective duty of civil society to face challenges confronting the society and ensure a better future for people.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Sindh, Dr Mazharul Haq Siddiqui said that education was the main ingredient for sustainable development of a society and stressed that Sindhi society could also develop if it put education on top of its priority list.

He regretted that political issues had always dominated the other important issues and made an appeal to people to shift their attention to education because all the other serious economic and political issues were directly linked with this issue.

Eminent scholar Mohammad Ibrahim Joyo said that development was linked with political independence and sovereignty and it was the duty of the political parties and civil society to fight together for attaining political rights of Sindh as laid down in the 1940 Resolution.

SDF Convenor Abrar Kazi said that SDF was a civil society think-tank, tasked with documenting Sindh’s case on scientific and logical lines so that the case could be presented outside as well as within the country.

The forum’s mandate was to develop policy documents and lobby with political parties, diplomats, international community and Sindhi expatriates to highlight Sindh’s viewpoint in a scientific manner, he said.

SDF Secretary Zulfiqar Halepoto, MPA Syed Murad Ali Shah, Awami Tehrik leader Ayaz Latif Palijo, former vice-chancellor of Sindh Agriculture University, Dr Rajab Memon, Prof Mushtaq Merani, journalist Iqbal Mallah and president of Sindh Farmers Association, Ghulam Nabi Morai, also spoke on the occasion.

FUNDS SANCTIONED: District Coordination Officer (DCO) Aftab Ahmed Khatri on Monday sanctioned release of monthly payment of Rs1,000 each to 2,474 beneficiaries as family pension under the District Benevolent Fund.

The DCO who was also chairman of the fund directed the officers concerned to deposit payment along with payment of last 10 months in the beneficiaries’ bank accounts and ensure they got their payment at their doorsteps.

He said that in addition, the district government was considering making payment to 408 more beneficiaries after completion of documentation and asked the president of All-Pakistan Clerks Association to coordinate with concerned section of his office.

The meeting approved 121 new cases which included 48 cases of family pension, 22 cases of funeral expenses, 39 cases of marriage expenses and 12 cases of medical aid.

The meeting was informed that except family pension, the payment of funeral expenses of Rs5,000 per case, payment of marriage expenses of Rs10,000 per case and payment of medical aid Rs10,000 per case would be released only once.

The DCO said that district government had received Rs30.7 million last Wednesday only for the payment of family pension but the payment for the marriages and funeral expenses and medical aid had not been received for past three years.

He said that efforts were being made to simplify procedure for making payments to benefactress in a transparent manner.