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STPP holds rally against IDPs’ influx into Sindh
Dr Magsi (front row 2nd left) held the govt and the police responsible for the alleged killing of STPP men in police firing during the rally. - Online Photo KARACHI: A group of Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) activists on Wednesday defied all police barricades on the streets of the city to stage a protest rally against the influx of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the NWFP. Led by STPP chief Dr Qadir Magsi, the protesters converged on Fawwara Chowk near the Governor’s House in the morning and marched up to the Chief Minister’s House. The police had put up barricades at various points to prevent the protesters from reaching the Governor’s House and CM’s House. Strong contingents of the Rangers and police personnel were deployed at sensitive spots to meet any eventuality. However, participants of the rally managed to march up to the PIDC House, where they were stopped from heading towards the CM’s House for several hours. Later, Dr Magsi and some of his party colleagues were allowed to present a memorandum to Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza at the CM’s House. The STPP maintained that allowing the IDPs to settle in Sindh was an attempt to turn the Sindhi-speaking people into a minority in their own province. It said the Sindhi people would resist all such attempts. Dr Magsi took up the issue of alleged killing of STPP men in police firing during the course of the rally, and said that his party held the government and the police responsible for the incident. ‘We will not allow the Sindh chief minister, ministers and advisers to visit the interior of Sindh and hold open kachehries there anymore,’ he added. He also told the minister that no vehicle carrying IDPs would be allowed to enter Sindh from Kashmore point from June 17. The home minister told the delegation that the government had formed an investigation team headed by the DIG South, AD Khwaja, to investigate the alleged police firing and death of the four STPP men. Dr Magsi, Haider Shahani, Ali Hasan, Abdul Hakim, Ellahi Bux Bukak and other STPP leaders spoke to the protesters at various points along the rally’s route from Sohrab Goth to the CM’s House. DAWN: Thursday, 11 Jun, 2009 |
