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Nationalists block highway near Sindh-Punjab border
The nationalists contended that non-Sindhis had usurped natural resources of the province over the past 60 years but Sindh’s rulers had always been tight-lipped over the issue. - APP photo SUKKUR: Hundreds of workers of nationalist parties held a demonstration and a sit-in on the National Highway at Kamoon Shaheed on the Sindh-Punjab border near Ubauro on Sunday in protest against large-scale influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) into Sindh. The activists belonging to Jeay Sindh Mahaz-Chandio, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz-Basheer, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, Sindh National Front and Sindh Hari Committee shouted slogans, condemning the government. Vehicular traffic between Sindh and Punjab came to a stop and hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the highway for three hours due to sit-in. JSM-C chairman Riaz Chandio, Abdul Fatah Samejo of STP, Zafar Korejo of SNF and Comrade Mandhal Shar of Sindh Hari Committee slammed the Sindh government for allowing IDPs to settle in Sindh. They said that Sindh’s resources were already overstretched and under tremendous pressure due to settlement of non-Sindhis over the past 60 years and now the IDPs would further burden the resources. They said that Sindhis were being treated like strangers in their own land and local youths were being denied jobs in multinational companies in Ghotki district. Students from the interior of province were not allowed to seek admission to the universities and colleges in Karachi, they alleged. They said that non-Sindhis had usurped natural resources of the province over the past 60 years but Sindh’s rulers had always been tight-lipped over the issue. They urged Sindhis to launch a joint struggle for their rights, which had been denied to them for decades, and appealed to the leaders of nationalist parties to shun their differences and get united to fight for the rights. If they failed to do so, history would never forget them, they said. They said that Sindhis would have to fight for their survival and rid the motherland of non-Sindhis. A large number of policemen were deployed at the highway to prevent any untoward incident but the protestors remained peaceful throughout and dispersed after registering their protest. DAWN: By Correspondent ;Monday, 08 Jun, 2009 |
