BADIN, Oct 12: Leaders of national and nationalist parties and MPAs have termed the Sindh People’s Local Government Act 2012 a black law and said supporters of the law are enemies of Sindh and Sindhis.

They were addressing participants in a procession organised by the Sindh Bachayo Committee here on Friday to protest against the new local government law.

A large number of activists of Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, Sindh United Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, PML-N and members of civil society took part in the protest.

The protesters chanted slogans against the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and demanded immediate abolition of the law. They said the ‘black law’ had been imposed to divide Sindh and stir up civil war.

The leaders appealed to people not to vote for the two parties in future and vowed they would support any anti-PPP candidate in elections.

Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, chief of the SUP, said that the PPP had always thrust ‘outsiders’ on Sindh, worked against people’s interests and imposed on them anti-Sindh decisions.

He asked people whether they rejected the ‘black law’ and people responded in the affirmative by holding up their hands.

PML-F MPA Nusrat Seher Abbasi said in her emotional speech that the conditions confronting Sindh today were similar to the British rule against which Sooriah Badshah, the great freedom fighter, led a rebellion and laid down his life fighting for the motherland. People would have to decide whether they wanted “Watan or Coffin”, she added.

Another PML-F MPA Syeda Marvi Rashdi said the PPP had been hatching conspiracies against the people of Sindh since it came to power and appealed to people not to participate in the PPP’s meeting scheduled for Oct 15 in Hyderabad.

It would be a black day for the people of Sindh, she added.

The speakers’ speeches were interspersed with the popular slogan uttered by the great general Hoshoo who died fighting against the British army, “Marwesoon Marwesoon Sindh Na Desoon” (I would rather die than surrender Sindh).

Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi, PML-N leader Mohammad Ismail Rahu, Syed Ali Bux Shah alias Papoo Shah of the PML-F, civil society leader Mir Mohammad Parhiar also spoke at the rally.

Dr Magsi said that PPP and MQM were conspiring to break up Sindh but people of Sindh would foil their designs by blocking all highways on Oct 15, the day PPP had planned to hold a public meeting in Hyderabad.

He said that PPP stalwart Dr Zulfikar Mirza who was very vocal about rights of Sindhis was not showing up anywhere while his son and wife were siding with President Zardari and not supporting Sindh’s just cause.

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