Thousands of Sindhi nationalists backed by their Baloch allies took out a rally here on Thursday. The participants of the rally - Sindh Is Karachi- organised by the Sindh Tarraqi Passand Party (STPP), carried banners and placards inscribed with various slogans and demands gathered at the Numaish Chowrangi on MA Jinnah Road and later marched up to Tibet Center where a big public rally was held.
The rally was also largely participated by the activists of Awami Tehreek, Sindh National Front, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, National Party and Jamhori Watan Party. Addressing the gathering, Chairman STPP Dr Qadir Magsi vehemently criticised the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its coalition partners, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), for "hatching conspiracies" against "civilised" people of Sindh.
"President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah have sold the blood of Benazir Bhutto for their greed for power," he said. He questioned whether the PPP had done anything for the "loyal people" of Malir, Keamari, Lyari, Ibrahim Haideri and Gulshan-e-Iqbal". The STPP chairman alleged that the MQM's self-exiled chief Altaf Hussain was fomenting violence in Karachi.
"We have doubts over Altaf Hussain's is a Pakistani national as he has obtained British nationality and is playing with the lives of innocent people of Sindh from London," Magsi alleged. The outspoken Sindhi nationalist leader accused MQM of killing innocent Baloch people of Lyari and hatching conspiracies against them to establish its dominance over the peaceful neighbourhood.
The STTP chief said Nadir Baloch and Nisar Baloch were struggling against drug and land mafia to save the precious land of the Gutter Baghicha but "the terrorists of MQM martyred them in broad daylight". He said City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal had claimed to have spent around Rs 400 billion on the development of this metropolis. But, he added.
"The city nazim's development works are based on politico-linguistic biasness as no development work has so far been carried out by the MQM-backed City District Government Karachi in the centuries-old goths and katchi abadis inhabited by Sindhis and Balochs," the Sindhi leader claimed adding these people are still deprived of basic facilities such water, roads and drainage system.
According to him, the brilliant Sindhi students are not being given admission in the city's educational institutions like Karachi University, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Sindh Medical Collage and Dow Medical College.
He said Karachi is Sindh for the past 5,000 years and Sindhis own it as they are the real owners and sons of soil. He said that those who wanted to turn Karachi into "Mini-Pakistan" were actually conspiring to expel Sindh people form this city. However, he said, since Islamabad is the country's capital, it should be made as "Mini-Pakistan" for all.
He said scores of people from Burma, India, Bengal, Kabul and Kandhar have settled down in Sindh illegally while considering Sindh as the Babul Islam (Gateway of Islam). He added: "But why didn't these people settle down in Saudi Arab" on similar grounds.The revenue generated from the vast natural resources of Sindh province is being utilised for the development of Lahore and Gujranwala, the STPP leader alleged. Reacting to the President's announcement on construction of dams, he warned the government against constructing any dam on Indus River.
Qadir Magsi demanded that the killers of Benazir Bhutto be arrested besides taking to task Pervez Musharraf for the murder of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. He also demanded arrest of Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza for allegedly killing activists of the STPP few months back.
At the end of his speech the nationalist leader fell unconscious due to what his supporters said high blood pressure. A team of doctors provided him treatment. Other STPP leaders Ali Hassan Chandio, Haider Shahani, Dr Hameed Memon, Gulzar Soomro, Aijaz Samtio and Hot Khan Gadhai also addressed the rally.
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