HYDERABAD, July 20: An all-party conference here on Thursday rejected a proposal to convert the Hyderabad district government into a city government.

It said the plan would lead to conflict and disharmony among the people of Sindh.

The APC was convened by the Sindh Democratic Forum at the press club.

The conference adopted a ten-point declaration condemning what it called the nefarious designs of some elements to divide Sindhi people’s land.

Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Palijo, Sindh Taraqi Passand Party chief Dr Qadir Magsi, Sindh National Council leader Dr Dodo Mahri, PPP-SB’s Yunus Bhan, PPP’s Pervaiz Ansari, Maula Bux Chandio, Afzal Gujjar of the PML-N, Sindh Hari Committee chief Azhar Jatoi, former Sindh minister Abdul Hakeem Baloch, former district council chairman of the Malir district, Shafi Jamote, Abdul Waheed Qureshi of the Jamat-i-Islami, Khuda Dino Shah of the Malir Bachayo Ittehad, SDF convenor Abrar Kazi and secretary Zulfikar Halepto spoke on the occasion.

The declaration said that the formation of the Karachi city district government after merging five districts and division of the Hyderabad district into four parts and reopening of the Khokhropar route, the plan to divide Thatta district into two parts and attempts to convert Mirpurkhas district into a city government were steps against the Sindhis.

The conference said that the steps were aimed at to settle non-Sindhis in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta and Mirpurkhas to change the demographic structure of the province.

It said that the move would not only harm peace and harmony of the province but would also threaten national integrity.

The declaration said that by installing an ethnic group in power in the province against all democratic norms and the Hyderabad city government proposal was yet another bribe to the organisation.

It said that the step was aimed at giving the control of precious real estate, natural resources, sources of revenue, buildings, parks, stadiums, historical buildings to one group, depriving indigenous population of their heritage.

The conference declared that the military government was illegal and unconstitutional and all constitutional amendments and ordinances, including the local government ordinance 2001, under which district and city governments had been formed, were unlawful.

It refused to accept the break-up of Hyderabad district into four districts and pledged to resist all moves for converting the district into a city government.

The conference declared that whenever any party attending the conference came into power, it would restore the original district of Hyderabad.

It appealed to all democratic and peace-loving people of Sindh, Pakistan and the world to take notice of the nefarious designs of the government and the ethnic group to divide the historic homeland of Sindhi people.

Speakers at the conference urged members of the civil society and different political and national parties to oppose formation of the city district government.

They demanded that the government should restore old districts of Hyderabad and Karachi and then form the city governments on the old districts.

The APC decided to hold protest demonstration and rally for which schedule would be announced later.

Rasool Bux Palijo said that tokenism was prevailing in the country and it was wrong to assume that elected representatives would solve every problem of Sindhis.

He blamed the creation of One Unit, signing of the Water Accord 1991, amendments to the Constitution and doling out of ministries to terrorists elected representatives.

“For the past 60 years a drama is being staged in the country and every step taken is tainted by dishonesty and falsehood”, he said.

He called upon Sindhis to give up raising small demands and raise their voice for big demands like registration of murder cases against the Sindh government and rulers.

He described the formation of the city district government as an act of highhandedness.

Mr Palijo said that people should vote for those who promised to do away with all anti-Sindh plans and projects. He said the government should eliminate hoodlums in Sindh like it was doing in Balochistan.

Dr Qadir Magsi said that Sindhis were being converted into a minority systematically because initially the MQM tried to occupy Sindh at gunpoint but now it had changed its modus operandi after disguising itself in Sindhi cap.

He said that the ethnic group was raising various issues to eliminate Sindhis from cities. He said the city government issue was a serious one because it threatened the existence of Sindhis.

He said that the MQM was eliminating Sindhi villages in Karachi while the proposal of outgoing District Nazim Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman for forming city government in pre-bifurcated Hyderabad was not accepted.

Maula Bux Chandio disagreed with the speakers who suggested that every campaign for Sindh’s rights remained directionless either launched from the platform of anti-greater Thal canal and Kalabagh dam action committee or Sindh Democratic Forum.

“Sindhis are united. When we are sitting and raising voice on any issue jointly it manifested unity”, he said. He said that the people of Sindh should start declaring anti-Sindhi people as traitors.

He said that when the PPP returned to power, the old Hyderabad district would be restored.

Ayub Shar termed the MQM an enemy of Sindh and said that Sindhi members in the Hyderabad district council were insulted.

Yunus Bhan said that it was the MQM which had hatched conspiracy of Jinnahpur and still it was pursuing the agenda.

He said that the creation of more districts in Thatta was part of Jinnahpur conspiracy “Today there is no difference between Sindhis and Palestinians or Lebanese because these people are being eliminated in their homeland”, he said.