SANN: G.M. Syed was a philosopher, true nationalist and proponent of Pakis­tan who always spoke about rights of Sindh and Sindhi nation.

This was stated by the veteran nationalist leader’s grandson, Syed Jalal Mehm­ood Shah, who heads the Sindh United Party (SUP) and has in the past served as the deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly.

He was speaking at the 115th birth anniversary programme organised by the SUP at Sann town on Thursday.

Veteran nationalist icon’s 115th birth anniversary observed in Sann

A 115-pound cake was cut to mark the occasion.

Mr Shah said that Syed had been at the centre of politics in Sindh in pre-partition days and had played a very important role in the creation of Pakistan.

Throughout his life, Syed fought for Sindh’s rights on its resources and advocated the principle that Sindh’s resources must be spent on Sindhis, Mr Shah said.

He said it was Syed who first presented the 1940 Resolution in the Sindh Assembly (in 1943) and regretted till his death that the country had never been ruled on the basis of the resolution.

He said Syed had started speaking and actively fighting against corrupt people from the early days of Pak­istan. The veteran leader always opposed controlled democracy in the country, he added.

Mr Shah said all federating units could not get equal rights until the country got rid of controlled democracy and unless it was governed as per the spirit of the 1940 Resolution.

The SUP chief said that all those who had usurped the country’s wealth in the past must be taken to task and the billions of rupees that had looted must be restored to the national exchequer.

He said the joint investigation teams (JITs) had already identified the plunderers and it was now the responsibility of the state institutions to recover the looted money from them. He rejected any plea bargain to be offered to the guilty, and stressed that they must be punished according to law.

He announced that the SUP would hold a march in Karachi on Feb 24 to highlight the issues confronting Sindh and its people.

Speaking at the programme, former Supreme Court judge Wajihuddin Ahmed also highlighted the role of G.M. Syed in parliamentary politics and creation of Pakistan. He descri­bed him as one of the founding leaders of the country.

Syed had close political relations with the Quaid-i-Azam and the two leading statesmen had been exchan­ging their views through correspondence. “Syed’s letters to the Quaid in favour of Pakistan’s creation are on record,” he said.

Justice Ahmed said history would remember G.M. Syed as one of the founding leaders of Pakistan.

Awami Jamhoori Party (AJP) president Wishino Mal, SUP senior vice president Syed Zain Shah, National Democratic Party (NDP) leader Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch and intellectual Zulfiqar Halepoto also spoke.

Through several resolutions passed at the gathering, the audience demanded an accelerated and transparent accountability process and punishment to the guilty; shelving of all plans for the construction of dams over the Indus; a halt to the settlement of outsiders in Sindh; prevention of issuance of CNICs to foreign nationals; and recovery of all victims of enforced disappearance.

Jeay Sindh Mahaz (JSM), Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and its Arisar faction, Jeay Sindh Tehreek (JST) Shafi Karnani and Dr Safdar Sarki factions, Jeay Sindh Liberal Front (JSLF) and Jeay Sindh Qaum-parast Party also held their separate gatherings close to the Syed’s grave to observe his birth anniversary.

JSQM leader Sannan Qureshi and JSM-R president Riaz Chandio spoke at their respective gatherings.

Proscribed Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) activists visited the grave and offered fateha while another banned group calling itself the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) paid homage to the Syed in a statement issued to the media.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2019