Nationalists tried to fight the new local government law with their vociferous protests, but to no avail. They are now hoping that token hunger strikes will do the trick.
On Tuesday, many of them made their way to the Karachi Press Club and chanted slogans against the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government, saying that Sindh’s division was unacceptable to them.
Jalal Mehmood Shah, the convener of the Save Sindh Movement, said, “The law could trigger a civil war in the province - the system has been rejected by majority of people living in Sindh.” According to Shah, the new local government system has divided Sindh by drawing lines between urban and rural areas. Metropolitan corporations have been established in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana while district councils have been introduced in rest of the province. Shah added that after Muharram, the nationalists would organise a long march which will begin at the border Sindh shares with Punjab and go all the way to Karachi.
The nationalists also criticised Barrister Zameer Ghumro’s move to file a petition in the apex court against the new local government system. “We respect Supreme Court, but this law has already been declared null by the people,” said Ali Hassan Chandio of the Sindh National Movement.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2012.
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