SUKKUR: The Rawadari Amn Caravan (tolerance and peace caravan), which originated in Lahore to spread the message of uprooting terrorism and religious extremism, arrived in Sukkur on Tuesday to attend a festival being held at the local press club. A large number of people from all walks of life warmly welcomed the caravan.

Rawadari Movement chairman Samson Salamat and his associates Deedar Ali Mirani, Sabira Asmat, Abdul Ghaffar Kalwar and others held a press conference at the press club.

They said that the caravan was an annual feature of their organisation and visited different cities and towns of the country to promote interfaith harmony, peace and tolerance.

Mr Salamat said that the movement was aimed at bringing peace-loving people together to counter the propaganda by anti-social elements bent upon dividing people on different lines and fomenting extremism. It was extremism that eventually ended up in acts of terrorism, he said.

He observed that terror attacks were still taking place despite the implementation of the National Action Plan a year ago. He said acts of terrorism were badly affecting educational institutions of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which was a matter of serious concern. While in Sindh, he said, the caravan participants would attend mystic poetry recitals at Dargah Bedil Bekas in Rohri on Wednesday and also join participants in the festival being celebrated at the press club on Thursday.

Hunger strike

Citizens observed a token hunger strike on the second consecutive day on Tuesday outside the Sukkur commissioner’s office against failure of the North Sindh Urban Services Corporation (NSUSC) to complete a drainage scheme.

Protesters included residents of Allah Abad Colony, Al-Madina Colony, Shaikh Muhalla and Mako Muhalla led by Rahim Bux Mahar, Lutufullah Malik, Akhtiar Soomro and Ghulam Qadir Tunio. The leaders on the occasion told reporters that the NSUSC and the public health engineering department had started a drainage line scheme at the cost of Rs20 million, but despite a lapse of more than five years, the work could not be completed due to which there was standing sewerage water in the streets.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2016