Sindhi intelligentsia on Sunday rejected the agreements involving Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), terming them illogical, illegal and unconstitutional.
Both the agreements were signed separately by two big parties of the country – PPP and PML-N – with MQM-P during the process of a no-confidence move against former premier Imran Khan.
On Sunday, several nationalist leaders, civil society activists, writers, lawyers and academics gathered at a local hotel in Hyderabad for an all-parties conference hosted by Sindh Tarqi Pasand Party (STP).
The first 17-point agreement, ‘Charter of Rights for the People of Sindh’, was signed between the MQM-P and the PPP, by MQM’s Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while the second 27-point agreement was signed between Amir Khan of MQM-P and Shehbaz Sharif of PML-N. According to the agreement, the PPP and the MQM-P, the representative political parties of the people of Sindh, acknowledged the mandate of each other.
The parties, through this covenant, pledged to develop a long-term partnership to ensure harmony amongst people, promote social justice and secure the economic wellbeing of the people of Sindh, especially of those who are left behind for various reasons.
The Supreme Court’s decision regarding local governments shall be implemented in letter and spirit within one month with mutual agreement, the agreement decided. A quota system, fake domiciles, local policing, and the development of rural and urban areas through a joint committee are the other main points of the contract.
Nationalists and civil society activists objected to the acknowledgement of all three parties on the Supreme Court’s decision regarding empowering local government, conducting census with the consultation of MQM-P, local policing and creation of new administrative units in the country.
Speakers, during the all parties’ conference, considered some of these points as anti-Sindh, anti-Pakistan and illegal, as according to them neither PPP nor MQM-P and PML-N were sole stakeholders of Sindh.
Addressing the conference, STP Chairman Dr. Qadir Magsi criticised both agreements and the Supreme Court’s decision regarding empowering local governments and demanded that the chief justice of Pakistan review the said decision by forming a full bench of the apex court.
Dr. Magsi added that the people of Sindh do not believe in racism, but will not allow any agreements based on bias and racism. He said the PPP and PML-N had no right to ink agreements that were against the interests of Sindh. “This type of politically motivated decision to please a group to get political benefits would cause ultimate loss to the country in future,” he said.
For his part, Sindh United Party (SUP) Chairman Syed Zain Shah said that PPP and PML-N along with other parties that became guarantors of the said agreement played with the sentiments of the Sindhi people and the people of Sindh will resist these contracts.
Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) chief Ayaz Latif Palijo emphasised the legal aspect of the agreements and the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the local government system.
Palijo slammed the demand of MQM-P regarding census as he was of the view that census was purely an administrative issue, and there was no need to consult any political group on this crucial issue. He said that the Supreme Court, while proceeding and deciding the local government petition, announced a one-sided decision.
Renowned writer Noor-ul-Huda Shah, social activist Zulfiqar Halipoto, Sindhu Nawaz Ghanghro, Aijaz Qureshi, Dr. Shafqat Abbasi, Mahesh Kumar, Izhar Soomro, Naimat Khuhro and other people from many walks of life participated in the conference.
