Sehto’s hunger strike: Call for immediate steps to meet demands

Left wing parties have urged the government to take immediate action to save the life of a Sindhi peasant leader.

ISLAMABAD:

Left wing parties have urged the government to take immediate action to save the life of Sindhi peasant leader Ghulam Rasool Sehto, who had been on a hunger strike to protest water shortage faced by farmers in Khairpur District in Sindh.

In a press statement issued here on Wednesday, the parties, including Awami Party Pakistan, Worker’s Party Pakistan and Labour Party Pakistan said that the incumbent government should fulfil the demands of Sehto, who is admitted in a hospital, and it must respect his non-violent protest and take action as promised to him over the past few months.

The progressive parties said democracy is not just a procedure under which elections are held after every few years.

It will only have meaning to the working people if their grievances are acknowledged and addressed.

Sehto has been demanding the release of agricultural water from different canals to cater to the needs of farmers in far-off areas of Khairpur. He said he has been promised action by district and provincial officials on numerous occasions since his protest began in Khairpur in May this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2012.