Days ahead of protest, nationalists fear repeat of May 12
The nationalists are gearing up for a province-wide strike on September 13 against the Sindh Peoples LG Ordinance.
HYDERABAD:
Saturday’s address by Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain calling on his party workers to be “mentally and physically prepared” for meeting future challenges seems to have created ripples among the province’s nationalist parties. Many of them, it turned out on Sunday, fear a repeat of the infamous violence in Karachi on May 12, 2007, which left nearly 50 people dead.
The nationalists are gearing up for a province-wide strike on September 13 against the Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance, 2012. At a press conference on Sunday, Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP) chairman Dr Qadir Magsi said that the MQM and Pakistan Peoples Party will be held responsible for any violence that takes place on that day.
The September 13 strike call was given during a meeting of the Sindh Bachao Committee that took place in Karachi after the promulgation of the local government ordinance. Dr Magsi appealed to people of all ethnicities to support the strike.
“You are all sons of this soil and should [therefore] not tolerate the division of the province.” The STPP chief declared the PPP leaders who were involved in negotiations with the MQM over the new system as “traitors.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2012.
Saturday’s address by Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain calling on his party workers to be “mentally and physically prepared” for meeting future challenges seems to have created ripples among the province’s nationalist parties. Many of them, it turned out on Sunday, fear a repeat of the infamous violence in Karachi on May 12, 2007, which left nearly 50 people dead.
The nationalists are gearing up for a province-wide strike on September 13 against the Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance, 2012. At a press conference on Sunday, Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP) chairman Dr Qadir Magsi said that the MQM and Pakistan Peoples Party will be held responsible for any violence that takes place on that day.
The September 13 strike call was given during a meeting of the Sindh Bachao Committee that took place in Karachi after the promulgation of the local government ordinance. Dr Magsi appealed to people of all ethnicities to support the strike.
“You are all sons of this soil and should [therefore] not tolerate the division of the province.” The STPP chief declared the PPP leaders who were involved in negotiations with the MQM over the new system as “traitors.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 10th, 2012.