HYDERABAD, March 26: The chief of the Sindh National Front (SNF), Mumtaz Ali Bhutto said that he was trying to unite all the politicians, writers and intellectuals on one platform to solve the problems of the province.

He was briefing newsmen at the Circuit House about his meetings with the leaders of different parties on Tuesday.

He further said that in furtherance of this objective, he had convened a Sindh Conference on May 5.

He said all the political parties must take notice of the excesses committed against Sindh, and added that the province was passing through a critical phase.

Answering a question about the formation of an alliance, Mr Bhutto said that his present efforts could lead to the formation of an alliance with a view to raising a collective voice on the problems of Sindh.

He said that the federal government had taken over the total control of the economic resources of Sindh and deprived the province of its share of water. He added that all the provinces had been denied provincial autonomy.

Answering a question about an electoral alliance, he said that it was a far-fetched proposition and added that if elections were held, his party would contest them from its own platform.

He further said that his present efforts were aimed at creating a consensus on the problems of Sindh.

Mr Bhutto said that no announcement had been made for holding referendum, and added that the question of supporting referendum was irrelevant because the decision would be made by the president himself.

About the Sindh Conference, Mr Bhutto said that he would personally invite Makhdoom Amin Faheem and Makhdoom Khaliquzzaman.

He said that invitation cards were being printed and the first one would be sent to Benazir Bhutto.

About Nisar Khoro, he said far bigger personalities were in the PPP, and added that Mr Khoro had entered the party through the backdoor.

He said the 1973 constitution had become outdated, and added that the country needed a new constitution.

CPP: The Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP), at a meeting held on Tuesday, condemned the ban on political meetings and protest demonstrations, and demanded the immediate release of ARD leaders.

The meeting severely criticized the ban on protest demonstrations against the Greater Thal Canal in Lahore and the arrest of Labour Party leader, Farooq Tariq.

The meeting demanded that the false cases registered against political and labour leaders should be withdrawn immediately.

Meanwhile, Sindh Taraqqi Passand leaders, Hoat Khan Gadhi and Nandlal Malhi, in a joint statement, condemned the arrest of ARD leaders in Lahore and Quetta and the ban on political meetings.

AWAMI TEHRIK: The central leaders of the Awami Tehrik, Dr Nazeer Shaikh, Vishnu Mal, and Gul Hassan Kerano, in a joint statement issued on Tuesday, condemned the kidnapping of Dr Dildar Leghari in Kot Ghulam Mohammed.

They said that Dr Leghari was not only a doctor but also a social worker. They accused Wadera Shahi and the administration of being directly involved in the kidnapping of Dr Leghari.

They also accused the authorities of patronizing the criminals.

They demanded that the kidnapped doctor be recovered soon.

RBOD: The Nazim, Union Council Bachayo Shoro, Gul M. Shoro; the Naib Nazim, Dr Saleem Tahir; and the minority councillor, Sikandarabad, Kotri, Mansha Maseeh expressed grave concern over the change of design of the RBOD saying that it had been done on the instance of influential landlords and politicians to save their agricultural land.

Speaking at a news conference at Kotri on Tuesday, they said that according to the original design the RBOD project was to be constructed on the right side of the KB Feeder canal but now the design had been changed and it would be constructed on the left side of the canal.

They said that the change in the design would affect the people of 18 villages and small growers. They demanded that the RBOD project should be constructed according to the original plan.

HESCO: Former Haq Parast members of the Sindh Assembly — Syed Afzal Ahmed Shah, Zafar Ali Rajput, and Dr Arif Razmi — expressed grave concern over the shifting of the Revenue officer’s office and XEN’s office of Gari Khata division, Hesco, from the centre of the city to the GOR Colony.