Members of the Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) and civil society activists and have unanimously decided to stage two major events – ‘Federalism in Pakistan: A Post Bangladesh Perspective’ and ‘Landlessness, Poverty and Land Reforms in Sindh and Peasant Movement’ – in the South Asia Social Forum that would be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on November 18 this year.
In a meeting held on Friday, civil society activists reviewed the current socio-economic and political issues of Pakistan, particularly Sindh, as well as the issues relating to the regional integrity of South Asian as a viable regional union. The participants of the meeting also discussed the detention of fisherfolk from both Pakistan and India and termed these steps as irritants in the path of sustainable peace and stability in the region from the people’s security perspective.
The participants also demanded the release of fisherfolk detained by both countries, particularly a large number of them held by Pakistan’s maritime personnel recently. The participants discussed the post-rain and -flood scenario in Sindh and demanded that the government as well as the global community, should provide timely emergency response support and initiatives for the calamity-stricken people.
They shared their concern about the Sindh Local Government Ordinance and demanded that a pro-people and ethnically harmonious local government framework should be devised after taking all stakeholders into consultation. The meeting was attended by Zulfiqar Shah of the Institute for Social Movements, Zulfiqar Halepoto of the PPC, Suleman G Abro of the Sindh Agricultural and Forestry Workers Coordinating Organisation, Mustafa Baloch of the Strengthening Participatory Organisation, Dr Ashothama of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Punhal Sariyo, Jabbar Bhatti, Shehnaz Shidi, Zahida Detho, Nisar Khokhar, Maqsood Daheri, Shokat Memon, Akbar Dars, Fatima Siyal, Abdullah Langha, Dr Haider and Ghaffar Malik.
