Civil society organisations (CSOs) called a hurried joint press conference on Thursday at Hyderabad Press Club and urged upon the government, global humanitarian organisations and human rights groups to raise their voice against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Member National Assembly (MNA) Dr Talat Mahesar of Dadu district, who had severely tortured senior teacher Noor Ahmed Mahesar, the uncle of Rural Development Foundation of Pakistan (RDF) Executive Director Masood Ahmed Mahesar.
Talking to the media, CSOs said that the PPP MNA had summoned the RDF executive director on July 17 and demanded benefits for some of his workers from the ongoing livelihood support to the farming communities in the union councils (UCs) of Kazi Arif and Mangwani. They alleged that when the MNA was told that the RDF is not working in UC Kazi Arif, he demanded support for his people in UC Mangwani of Mehar taluka.
“The executive director tried to apprise him about the rules and regulations of the donor agreements and the preset criteria of supporting the flood survivors. At this, the irritated MNA started threatening the RDF head of stopping the foundation’s operations in the district,” they added. They said that a day later, on July 18, the MNA sent six of his guards to the RDF head’s house in Mehar, who tried to break the main entrance by pelting it with bricks and stones.
They accused the ruling PPP MNA of disrupting humanitarian work in the district and demanded the government to take action against the brutal act and to ensure protection to the activists of RDF and other organisations, who, after this incident, are working in a stressful state. They said that the incident of threatening the humanitarian organisation’s head might affect the charity response by CSOs in the entire province.
They criticised the Mehar police for not registering the case of the incident, and condemned the attitude of the Dadu Deputy Commissioner Dr Niaz Abbasi regarding the matter, who instead of taking action to protect the law abiding citizens, started threatening the RDF activists and warned them that if they did not heed the MNA’s demand, he (Abbasi) would disrupt their charity work in the district.
The CSOs said that such types of incidents of threatening charity organisations and attacking their staff and family members are becoming frequent in the province.
