Sindh closed to protest MQM’s 20th amendment bill

A general strike was observed in all districts of Sindh, whereas in Karachi division, Sindhi- and Baloch-dominated areas remained closed.
The MA Jinnah Road was also closed for some hours by protesters who were staging a protest on the Save Sindh Committee (SSC)’s call for a general strike against the 20th constitutional amendment presented in the National Assembly by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). “We congratulate the people of Sindh who have, once again, made a success the strike call issued for the rights of the province,” said SSC convener Jalal Mehmood Shah during a media briefing at his residence Hyder Manzil on Saturday.
Shah Muhammad Shah, Riaz Chandio, Ghulam Shah and Qamar Bhatti were also present on the occasion.
“It is the democratic right of the people of Sindh to protest. We organised a peaceful strike, but some opponents tried to turn it violent in different parts of the province,” the SSC convener said. He repeated his demand that the MQM and the government must withdraw the 20th amendment. “We have not contacted the MQM directly, but we are asking them through the media that they should withdraw the 20th amendment if they consider themselves Sindhis, because Sindhis have strong reservations about the amendment,” he added.
He also said the 20th amendment is a conspiracy to create differences between Sindhis and the Urdu-speaking community. Activists of the Awami Tehreek (AT) and its women’s wing Sindhyani Tehreek took out a protest rally in Saddar and staged a sit-in at the MA Jinnah Road, which was blocked by them, as they chanted slogans against the 20th amendment and the probable plan to divide Sindh.
A party’s activists who had approached the demonstrators on a dozen or so motorcycles started asking AT members to stop their protest and vacate the road, but the protesters refused to do so, which resulted in a clash between the male members of both parties, whereas the female members of AT’s women’s wing also attacked the motorcyclists with their flags, forcing them to escape without their vehicles.
Public transport remained thin in many areas, and main highways like the National Highway, the Indus Highway and the Super Highway also remained closed; whereas transport in and out of Sindh also remained thin, as Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur Mir’s, Naushehro Feroz, Dadu, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Kandhkot, Shikarpur, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matiari, Nawabshah, Tando Allahyar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Mithi, Thatta, Badin and Tando Muhammad Khan, and their towns remained closed.