Seeks redressal of grievances: Ayaz Latif Palejo unhappy with state of affairs in Sindh

Palejo criticises PML-N, PPP, Sindh Festival and ‘the proposed division of the province’.

SUKKUR: Without education, development, employment and peace, Sindh cannot move forward, observed Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) president Ayaz Latif Palejo, while addressing a large public gathering in Muhammad Bin Qasim Park, Sukkur, on Thursday.

Complaining about Sardars and Jagirdars who are ‘looting and plundering Sindh’, he said that the province produces 71 per cent of the country’s gas and 58 per cent of its petroleum products and is blessed with Keti Bunder, Port Qasim, Thar coal among other riches but in return is denied its rights. Incidents of lawlessness, including tribal feuds, kidnapping for ransom, murders, highway robberies and thefts are rampant and employment seems a distant dream, he added.



Talking about the ongoing Sindh festival, Palejo criticised the money being spent on the event. “I would like to ask the organisers that wouldn’t it have been better to utilise this amount for hepatitis and polio vaccines, reopening of closed schools, providing potable water to the poor and a one-time meal to the hungry?” he questioned. “I am proud of Sindh’s culture but it is wrong to ask people to wear a topi and dance when they have bigger problems.”

Palejo then went on to criticise the federal government, saying that it seems like there is a deal between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party about not interfering in each other’s matter. “Corruption is rampant throughout the country but is particularly prevalent in Sindh,” said the QAT president, adding that Sindh’s provincial and National assembly members are using development funds for their own benefit.

Palejo then went on to talk about the proposed dialogue with the Taliban and said that “the committees formed are not properly represented by either the Taliban or the government.”

“Sindh has been undivided for centuries and will always remain one,” he said about “the proposed division of the province.” “Those talking about its division will have to go through us before dividing our motherland. A new and prosperous Pakistan is impossible without a new and prosperous Sindh and that will only happen if people of Sindh are provided with employment, development, education and peace.”

Palejo had earlier led a rally from Teer Chowk to the Muhammad Bin Qasim Park.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2014.