HYDERABAD, Jan 27: Major political parties of the country are doing politics of hatred and dividing the nation on religious, sectarian and racial grounds.

This was stated by Awami Workers Party (AWP) president Abid Hassan Manto while speaking at the “Workers’ conference and burning issues of Sindh’ held under the auspices of the party at the local press club on Sunday.

He told the audience that only a well-organised leftist party could counter the politics of hatred

He observed that the Establishment had never welcomed democracy and would not let it flourish in the country. He urged workers to reorganise the party to fight for the legitimate and constitutional rights of farmers, labourers, womenfolk, non-Muslims and all other segments of society and to bring an end to exploitation in the name of caste, creed, religion etc.

AWP secretary-general Farooque Tariq told the conference that imperial forces were bent upon taking away the country’s natural resources through the so called mega projects and one of them was Zulfikarabad.

Other AWP leaders including Yousuf Masti Khan called for immediate halt to what they described as ‘state-sponsored oppression’ in Gilgit and Sindh and vowed to continue the ongoing struggle against all such oppressive and exploitative policies.

They referred to the unbridled killings and law and order situation obtaining in Karachi for years and warned that if people did not raise their voice against these policies, all other parts of Sindh might witness a similar situation.

Through several resolutions adopted at the conference, the AWP condemned withdrawal of FIR against owners of M/s Ali Enterprises (which was facing a trial pertaining to the death of around 300 labourers in a fire at its Baldia town (Karachi) factory; rejected Zulfikarabad, Kalabagh dam and all other controversial projects; condemned government’s failure to prevent measles outbreak in Sindh; and condemned conspiracy to convert ethnic majority of Sindh into a minority.

The resolutions also expressed determination to rid Karachi of targeted killing and terrorism; curb religious extremism across the country; and get all laws against religious minorities repealed.