Dr Magsi demands Sindh be given its due rights

HYDERABAD: Expressing his desire to take the struggle for the rights of Sindh to the next level, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand (STP) Chairperson Dr Qadir Magsi has urged the cross-section of Sindhi society and the nationalist leaders to join hands to establish a new Sindh. "Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are extensions of each other. They have failed and they will fail to deliver," stressed Dr Magsi while addressing a huge crowd of his party's supporters who gathered to mark the 27th motherland day at a public meeting in Hyderabad on Sunday night.

"Writers, poets, intellectuals, professionals, journalists, farmers and peasants should join hands. The veterans of the struggles against One Unit System, Movement for Restoration of Democracy and the nationalists as well should create a united front." He believed that unity will free the province from what he perceived and described as a persistent state of bondage while paving the way for a liberal and progressive Sindh.

Call for revival of resistance

He said they desired to carry forward the missions of the late peasant leader Hyder Bux Jatoi and late nationalist leader GM Syed. "Lets lay the foundation of a new Sindh together. Let's get rid of the PPP, PML-N and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)."

He contended that a new political approach is required for the province and that people need to become thoughtful about Sindh's future. He said he alone cannot lead such a movement and that he is even prepared to become the rearguard if the movement is set in motion.

Referring to the 27th motherland day, he said they have spent 27 years in the struggle for the rights but sadly they cannot reach even close to the destination. "After every five years, Sindh's feudal lords and big landholders win a fake mandate in the elections because the politics of vote hasn't become liberated in Pakistan so far."

He said the state will have to accept that Pakistan is a country of Sindhis, Balochs, Pakhtuns and Punjabis, adding that the people of all the provinces should enjoy equal rights.

The STP chairperson asserted that he and his party played a historic role during the ethnic strife in 1980s and 1990s. "A group of armed men [a reference to Muttahida Qaumi Movement] tried to make Sindhis their slaves. If we had not led the resistance from Karachi to Kashmore, Sindh would have divided. But we created fear in the hearts of Sindh's enemies."

He believed that threats against the province's integrity and its native people are still not over and referred to the killing of Irshad Ranjhani in Karachi which he argued was intended to send a message to Sindhis living in Karachi.

Grievances with Centre

Dr Magsi reminded Prime Minister Imran Khan that before he came to power, the two political figures had held a public meeting together in their struggle to establish true democracy. "But our complaint against you [Khan] is that who has given you the right to build dams on Indus River and to try to roll back the 18th Amendment and by doing so create a strife between the Centre and the province."

He criticised Khan's governance and held him responsible for weakening the economy. "You made the promise of making the green passport famous in the world but you seem more interested in becoming the driver of kings."

Bewailing that the state does not even respond to the cries of the women who run from pillar to post in the hope of recovering missing persons, the STP leader demanded that enforced disappearances in Sindh should be stopped.

He also endorsed the freedom movement of Kashmiris and demanded that they be given their right to self-determination.

Veteran Baloch leader, Dr Abdul Hai Baloch found Sindh and Balochistan confronted with an identical political system of exploitation. He believed that a collective struggle can produce desired results. "We stand for the rights of all oppressed people even those living in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa."



The resolutions read out on the occasion called for the revival of the federation in the spirit of 1940's resolution, respecting the right of the federating units over their resources, Sindh's first right over Indus River and putting an end to building more dams over Indus. Teaching Sindhi as a compulsory language in the schools, colleges and universities, fixing crop prices in consultation with the farmers and according the national status to the provincial languages were among other resolutions.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2019.