Sindh writers forum releases election agenda
By: Zeeshan Azmat
Karachi: The Sindh Writers and Thinkers Forum (SWTF) released its “Sindh agenda for Election-2013” at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.
Speaking at a conference “Unity of Sindh and its requirements”, the participants asked the masses to reject the party that attempted to divide Sindh by implementing the controversial Sindh People’s Local Government Act-2012, and avoid casting votes on the basis of tribe, caste or ethnicity.
The participants demanded that Sindhi language should be given the status of one of the national languages as well as making serious efforts for implementing Sindhi as an official language of the province. They also demanded that Sindhi should be made compulsory and a medium of education along with English at all the public and private educational institutions of the province.
They said that the geographical unity and historical status of the motherland Sindh could not be compromised at the whims of any ethnic group, political party, government or assembly since any legislation or administrative structure that could cause implicit administrative or geographic division of Sindh would not be acceptable to the people of the province.
They called for securing the demographic status of Sindh by ensuring the right to rule the province to Sindhis. They also called for repatriating over three million illegal immigrants and enacting legislation by the Sindh Assembly with regard to the property and voting rights of the citizens belonging to other provinces and living in Sindh.
The SWTF said that all the natural and economic resources of Sindh should be utilised for the economic development of the province and its people with key focus on backward areas and marginalised sections of society.
Similarly, the planning and development in Sindh should be depoliticised and steps should be taken for carrying out research and need-based development in the process, besides industrialization should be done in less developed districts of Sindh, it added.
Keeping in view the recurrence of disasters in Sindh during the last couple of years, the Sindh government should make long-term and effective disaster management programme as well as devising water policy as per international principles, it said.
According to the SWTF, the local government system in Sindh should be formulated and implemented as per the global democratic norms and practices, besides fresh delimitations should be done in Karachi so as to ensure equal, just and genuine representation of the people in the electoral process.
Over 10 percent of the provincial budget should be spent on education and health sectors and merit should be made the only criterion for the appointments in public sector institutions.
The speakers demanded de-weaponisation of Karachi so as to combat all kinds of terrorism as well as promoting Sufi, tolerant and pluralistic culture of Sindh. They further demanded for taking special measures to protect the people belonging to minorities as well as making legislation to protect the rights of women.
Writer Noor Ahmed Memon talked about the historical resistance movement launched against the SPLGA-2012, while Rahat Saeed spoke about the nature of diverse unity in Sindh.
Columnist and writer Dastagir Bhatti spoke about the PPP’s callous attitude towards the interests and unity of Sindh, while Jami Chandio dwelt on the future challenges confronting the province.
Ishtiaq Ansari shed light on the conspiracies hatched against the unity of Sindh after the partition of the sub-continent, while Mehtab Akbar Rashdi talked about the issue of unity of Sindh in the context of coming elections.
Source: The News
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