KARACHI, June 7: Former chief justice of the Sindh High Court Wajihuddin Ahmed has suggested that a new Karachi be built near Port Qasim for the settlement of old Sindhis and those Hindus who had migrated to India after partition and wanted to return to their native land.

The retired judge made this suggestion during a presentation at a provincial autonomy seminar held here on Saturday. His idea received a big applause from the audience.

He said this new Karachi should be a replica of old Karachi having the same Express Market, Boulton Market and Merewether Tower and other historical structures.

Discussing the issue of provincial autonomy, Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, who retired as a Supreme Court judge, agreed with other speakers that the issue was very important as it was linked to the survival of the country, saying that the sooner the issue was resolved the better for the nation.

He said three states had faced serious crises and disintegrated during the 20th century because they had failed to address this issue. These states were Pakistan, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

However, he regretted that some politicians had used the issue as a bargaining chip to promote their personal agenda. He said the people of Sindh and Balochistan had suffered a lot due to the denial of their rights. While the Baloch had been victims of their own chieftains, Sindhis had suffered injustices at the hands of their feudal lords.

Tracing the political history of Pakistan, Mr Ahmed said Pakistan had been converted into a police state instead of being made a welfare state.

He observed that provincial autonomy could better protect interests of the two majority provinces -- Punjab and the NWFP -- rather than the minority provinces -- Sindh and Balochistan -- provided they understood the problem with an open mind.

He said autonomy did not create divisions within the state, rather it made it more cohesive. In this regard, he gave the instances of India, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The retired judge described the demands of the Baloch as just, saying that it was their legitimate right to demand control over their own resources and their apprehensions regarding Gwadar were correct.

He said India had granted a special status to Indian-held Kashmir, wherein the right of vote and to buy property were not granted to people of other parts of Indian union under a special arrangement between the state government and the Indian Union.

He also argued that the Balochistan issue could also be solved on the basis of this arrangement.

The first session of the seminar, which was presided over by Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, was addressed by Hameed A.. Haroon, Comrade Ram Chand , Ghulam Shah, former MNA Syed Qurban Ali Shah, Idrees Rajput, trade union leader Karamat Butt, Abrar Qazi and others

Earlier, speakers mostly accused successive rulers of the country of trampling the rule of the constitution, democracy and subjugating the smaller units of the country which they argued once had sovereign rights.

They maintained that the rulers had violated all constitutional accords, including the 1940 Resolution and the 1973 Constitution, thereby depriving the smaller provinces of their resources.

Analysing the autonomy issue in the historical respective, Hameed Haroon argued that once the issue was linked to the protection of rights of the minorities, but now after the creation of Pakistan, it was a multi-faceted one that needed to be re-examined. He said it could not be merely solved by revising the concurrent list, but needed to be looked into in a broader prospective and scientific ways.

He said the situation could not be changed unless decision-making powers were transferred to the provinces, thereby empowering each federating unit to protect the rights of its citizens.

Mr Haroon stressed the need for effective autonomy, empowering the people and protecting rights of individuals and this could not be achieved without an effective participatory role of the people.

He deplored that no contribution had been made to the protection and promotion of Sindhi culture and language for the last 30 years. On the other hand, he recalled, it were the Hindus who had struggled for the separation of Sindh from the Bombay presidency.

He called for a wider debate to discuss all aspects of the autonomy issue.

Sabihuddin Ghausi, former president of the Karachi Press Club, criticised the military rulers for “ruining the country” and called for ending the military’s interference in the country’s politics.

He said we could not democratise the country unless we end the military rule. He also condemned the military operation in Balochistan.

Trade union leader Karamat Butt stressed the need for democratising society by decentralising state institutions and delegating more powers to the provinces and recognising multi-national character of the state of Pakistan.

He said the autonomy issue had always been the focal point in Pakistan politics. He criticised the successive rulers of the country for depriving the people of their rights and concentrating more and powers into their own hands.

Idrees Rajput stressed the need for the implementation of water accord signed by the Nawaz government.

Syed Qurban Ali Shah, Comrade Ram Chand, Ghulam Shah and other speakers also called for solving the issue of provincial autonomy.