Pakistan: Five parties form committee to launch joint resistance over issues of Sindh

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 16 (ANI): Five like-minded nationalist parties on Friday announced the formation of ‘Jeay Sindh Rahbar Committee’ to begin joint resistance against seven important issues, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.

The issues include taking away Sindh’s resources, construction of mega residential projects, flawed digital census, human rights violations, plans for building dams on the Indus River, settlement of foreigners in the province, and denial of national status to the Sindhi language.
While Jeay Sindh Mahaz-Riaz (JSM-R) chairman Riaz Ali Chandio said that the committee will hold a rally in Sukkur on September 17 to formally launch the joint resistance, according to Dawn. He made the remarks after chairing the first meeting of the newly-formed forum as its convener on Friday.

Riaz Ali Chandio said that the committee includes leaders of the five parties. The committee’s leaders including Riaz Ali Chandi, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz-Arisar’s Aslam Khairpuri, JSQM-Bashir leader Niaz Kalani, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Party chairman Nawaz Khan Zaunr, Jeay Sindh Tehreek leader Sooriyah Sindhi have rejected government decision of giving more than 20,000 acres of land owned by Karachi Port, Port Qasim and Pakistan Steel Mills to investors.

He noted that Sindh’s resources were assets of people and loans were being given to rulers, Dawn reported. He stressed that people were not supposed to bear the burden of the loans given to rulers. He stated that the Karachi Port was an asset of Sindh and it was not constructed by the federal government.

Riaz Ali Chandio said that the port was run by Sindh during the British era and it was placed under the federal government after 1947. He further said that Pakistan Steel Mills and Port Qasim were also assets of Sindh and cautioned those nations showcasing interest in these assets against signing any deals with the government, the report said.

Jeay Sindh Mahaz-Riaz (JSM-R) chairman noted that the people of resource-rich Sindh were made to face food security despite them being the sole owners of these assets, Dawn reported. He called for the repatriation of all illegal immigrants, including the Afghans to their home countries.

Earlier in June, it was reported that Sindh province continues to grapple with numerous unfinished projects that the party promised in successive budgets but has yet to see completion or significant progress, Pakistan-based The Express Tribune reported.

Unfortunately, this situation persists across various projects in Sindh during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Among these projects, the Karachi Circular Railway is a notable example, having been announced on seven separate occasions but still needing to be completed.

According to The Express Tribune, Benazir Accident and Trauma Centre in Razzaqabad, Karachi, designed to accommodate 1000 beds, remains unfinished. Furthermore, the Bilawal Bhutto Engineering College Scheme in Lyari has been confined to paperwork without any tangible advancement.