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Highway blocked at Sindh-Punjab border

By Waseem Shamsi 

STP chief Dr Qadir Magsi (seen here leading the protest) slammed the Sindh govt for allowing IDPs to settle in the province and termed it part of a conspiracy to covert Sindhis into a minority. - APP photo
SUKKUR: Traffic between Sindh and Punjab on both sides of the National Highway came to a grinding halt when activists of the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party and a number of other nationalist parties held a sit-in on the highway at Kamoon Shaheed on Wednesday.
The protest continued for more than five hours and the protesters, including workers of Sindh National Front, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and other nationalist parties expressed concern over influx of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Swat, Buner, Malakand and other areas of the NWFP into Sindh.
Hundreds of big and small vehicles were stranded at both ends of the highway and the passengers faced great agony due to extremely hot weather.
Addressing the protesters, STP chief Dr Qadir Magsi who led the protest slammed the Sindh government for allowing IDPs to settle in the province and termed it part of a conspiracy to covert Sindhis into minority.
He said that he was not only against influx of IDPs but also wanted ouster of all non-Sindhis who had settled in the province after 1954.
He rejected Rs300,000 compensation money announced by Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza for each of the three STP workers killed by police in Karachi and termed the amount humiliating. He demanded Rs1.2 million for each victim.
He paid tribute to Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for her great sacrifices and recalled that she had participated in a grand sit-in at Kamoon Shaheed during late 1990s along with leaders of the nationalist parties. The sit-in was against Kalabagh Dam, he said.
Heavy contingents of police called from Ghotki, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Shikarpur and other districts were deployed at the venue for sit-in but the protest ended peacefully without any unpleasant situation.
Earlier, talking to journalists at Sukkur toll plaza, Dr Magsi criticised the Sindh government for settling the IDPs in Sindh without respecting opinion of the people of the province.
He said that Sindhis had the first right on the economy and resources of their province and, therefore, the government should use all available resources to uplift their condition.
He criticised the Sindh budget and said it failed to make mention of the National Finance Commission award and how the resources would be utilised.
On the other hand, President Asif Ali Zardari had announced Rs22 billion for Karachi green project, which was illegal gratification, he said.
As compared to this, the federal government had allocated only Rs23 billion for the health of 160 million people of the country, which was tantamount to a cruel joke with people, Dr Magsi remarked.
He said that rulers were voted to power by people so that they solved their problems and not sold the country, otherwise, people would never forgive them.
He paid tributes to the STP workers who laid down their dear lives during the protest in Karachi the seven who suffered injuries. His party was ready to lay down more sacrifices for the motherland, he stressed.