Vehemently condemning the Sindh Peoples’ Local Government Bill, 2012 which the provincial legislature had passed the other day, Jeay Sindh Tehreek (JST) Tuesday announced to launch a protest movement in the province against the said bill in a move to press the authorities to withdraw it.
Announcing this at a crowded press conference at Karachi Press Club, JST President Dr Safdar Sarki said that protest rallies and demonstration would be held in all district headquarters on October 3. He also said that a Karachi March would also be held on October 14 to lodge a historic protest against the dual governance system. And the protests would not just end here, he said. “After the Karachi March, thousands of Sindhis under the banner of JST would take out a long march from Jacobabad district to Karachi on November 3, 2012,” Sarki added.
Safdar Sarki also congratulated leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) Pir Pagara, Jatoi and Mahar brothers and the PPP MPAs who did not attend the assembly session in protest. “The JST and the Sindhis believe that passage of the controversial bill in a haphazard manner is tantamount to betrayal with the people of Sindh. People whose lives are to be affected would not take a sigh of relief until the said bill of governance is withdrawn,” he added.
Sarki alleged that the establishment, in a move to restrict the philosophy of GM Syed, had once again used the PPP and MQM in dividing Sindh and creating hatred among the people.
“I want to remind the current PPP leadership that Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had time and again condemned the Local Government Ordinance of Musharraf and Daniyal Aziz and she promised that the old status of Karachi and Hyderabad districts would be restored.
“But the present PPP leadership has included most dangerous clauses in the LG Bill that shift all the powers of chief executive and the Sindh government to the mayor of Karachi.” he maintained.
Sarki, in the end, requested Pir Pagara, Shafi Jamote, Hakeem Baloch, Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, Khuda Dino Shah and all the nationalist parties to join hands to make Karachi March a success. He also requested Pir Pagara to lead millions of people marching in protest.
