HYDERABAD, Jan 31: Around two million peasants are languishing in private jails of influential landlords, said president of the Pakistan chapter of the Peace and Human Rights International, Advocate Mohammad Aslam Rana.

He was speaking at a news conference here on Tuesday.

He said the Sindh chief minister had denied presence of bonded labour in Sindh but in reality the situation was serious and poor farmers were being subjected to forced labour.

Quoting from a newspaper, he said that even the Sindh home minister had conceded that there were two million bonded labourers in Sindh.

Mr Rana said the home minister had issued instructions to the regional and district police officers to wipe out private jails and take action against people responsible.

He announced that his organization will convene an international conference in Hyderabad on March 26 on ‘emancipation of bonded labour and their rehabilitation’.

He said the chairman of the Peace and Human Rights Trust, Mukhtar Rana; representatives of Anti-Slavery International, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Bonded Labour Liberation Front in Sweden; retired judges and lawyers would attend the conference.

Advocate Rana said many bonded labourers were recovered from Umerkot and Ghotki districts.

He paid tribute to the Supreme Court chief justice for taking suo motu action in the case of Mannu Bheel, whose entire family was being held in captivity by an influential landlord.

He urged the federal government to appoint a judicial commission for rehabilitation of freed labours.

JSQM: The Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz has rejected the 1991 water accord and the 1994 ministerial agreement on distribution of water.

It said the only water agreement acceptable to Sindh was the one of 1945 between Sindh and Punjab.

Speaking at a news conference here on Tuesday, the central secretary general of the party, Dr Safdar Sarki, and vice chairman Dr Niaz Kalani said that since the government was undemocratic it could not take a decision on water distribution.

They said the rulers had announced constructions of Bhasha and Munda dams before the Kalabagh to hoodwink the people of Sindh.

The JSQM leaders, however, made it clear that construction of any dam over the Indus river would not be accepted.

Taking strong exception of rehabilitation of Kalpar and Masuri tribes in Balochistan’s Bugti area under the patronage of the government, they said it was a conspiracy to pit Baloch against Baloch.

They said the government was hatching conspiracies to convert the Baloch into a minority in their own homeland.

Rejecting the NFC award, the JSQM leaders claimed that the people of Sindh were owners of their resources and income.

They announced that meetings of the JSQM supreme council and central committee will be held on February 4 and 5, which will chalk out future course of action.

NAZIM: Tando Mohammad Khan district Nazim Mir Inayat Ali Talpur on Monday announced a grant of Rs70 million for development of the Tando Ghulam Haider taluka.

The sum was separated from the total grant of Rs350 million meant for development of the entire district.

The district nazim was speaking at an open Katchehry at Tando Ghulam Haider on Monday.

Adviser to the Sindh chief minister, Mir Ali Nawaz Talpur, was also present on the occasion.

A large number of people from different union councils of the taluka submitted their complaints about lawlessness, shortage of water, closure of schools and shortage of teaching staff, absence of doctors from BHUs, shortage of medicines and erratic power supply.

Tando Mohammad Khan DCO Amir Ali Behan, DPO Haji Mohammad Sadiq, education EDO Sikandar Ali Mallah, Taluka Nazim Murtaza Chandio and councillors were present in the Katchehry.