Sit-in held: Nationalists block highways on first day of protest against IDPs

Members of ‘Sindh Bachayo’ movement stage a sit-in.

SUKKUR: Highways connecting all four provinces were blocked at Dera Morr near Kashmore and Ubauro Toll Plaza by the workers of nationalist parties under the banner of the ‘Sindh Bachayo’ movement against the influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from North Waziristan to Sindh.

Hundreds of workers of nationalist parties including Sindh United Party, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and others led by the Sindh United Party leader, Jalal Mehmood Shah, JSQM senior vice-president Dr Niaz Kalani and others staged sit-in at Dera Morr near Kashmore and Ubauro Toll Plaza district Ghotki, suspending the traffic between Sindh, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Both sit-ins were staged simultaneously and after organising the workers at Ubauro Toll Plaza, Shah and Dr Kalani moved to Dera Morr, where they joined the sit-in. Thousands of vehicles have been stuck on the highway for hours. Passengers of coaches travelling to and from Sindh, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have also been stuck.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Kalani said that both the sit-ins will continue for 24 hours, after which the sit-in will be moved to Ghotki and Kandhkot. The protest will carry on in this manner for seven days. According to him, the influx of IDPs is part of a conspiracy to turn Sindhis into a minority. ‘The IDPs should be allowed to settle in other provinces but we will not tolerate them in Sindh,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014.