Target killings, disappearances and drought: Sindh continues to protest on third consecutive day

Commercial activities in almost all parts of the province remain suspended on Monday

SUKKUR/ HYDERABAD: All commercial activities in southern and central Sindh remained suspended for the third consecutive day as the Save Sindh Committee, Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) and Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) carried through their strike on Monday.

The strike was called to protest the murder of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam - Fazl (JUI-F) leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, enforced disappearances and killings of the nationalist workers, and deaths of children in Tharparkar. All educational institutions, markets and petrol pumps in most districts remained closed while there was very thin traffic on the Super, National and Indus highways.

The Save Sindh Committee, a conglomeration of several nationalist parties, organised a sit-in demonstration at Hyder Chowk in Hyderabad where the charged protesters shouted slogans and burnt tyres. Workers of various nationalist groups staged demonstrations in several other districts.

"The people of Sindh have expressed their outrage over the killings of Dr Soomro and nationalist workers," said Ayaz Latif Palijo, president QAT. He said the some people wanted to create a Balochistan-like situation in Sindh by murdering ulema and political workers. He appealed to the Supreme Court to take notice of these incidents in Sindh.  Palijo also blamed the provincial government for the rising incidents of deaths of children in drought-hit Tharparkar and demanded resignations of the Sindh chief minister as well as his cabinet members.

Upper Sindh

The situation was almost the same in most cities and towns of Upper Sindh. In Sukkur, most commercial centres opened as per routine in the morning but were forced to shut by groups of men, carrying wooden clubs. Several protest rallies were organised in Jacobabad while protesters also staged a sit-in at D-Chowk where they burned tyres to block the road.

Larkana, the hometown of Dr Soomro, remained shut throughout the day. Separate rallies were organised by different nationalist parties, which marched through the city's thoroughfares and terminated at Jinnah Bagh Chowk.  Meanwhile, a partial shutter-down strike was observed in Naushero Feroze, Kamber-Shahdadkot and Dadu. No untoward incidents were, however, reported from any district.

The issues

At least five nationalist workers were allegedly killed in November after their enforced disappearances. The parties claim around two dozen others are missing. However, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan's Hyderabad chapter puts the number of missing persons from Sindh at 12.

Meanwhile, in Tharparkar, hundreds of children have died since December 2013. Around 133 deaths were reported in the last two months alone.

"The illegal detention and killings of political workers are infuriating the peaceful people of Sindh," said Dr Niaz Kalani, the vice-president of JSQM while speaking at a protest in Hyderabad. He criticised the chief minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, over his silence, praising Balochistan's CM Dr Abdul Malik Baloch who raised his voice over these issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2014.