HYDERABAD, Sept 25: The chief of the Awami Tehrik (AT), Rasool Bux Palijo, has alleged that under a planned US-backed conspiracy, the economy of the country is being destroyed through the privatization of its national assets.

Mr Palijo was speaking at a rally in front of the Hyderabad Press Club on Thursday organized by the workers of the Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) to protest the proposed privatization of the OGDC.

The rally started from the district council building and after marching through Fatima Jinnah and Meeran Mohammad Shah roads, it transformed into a protest demonstration in front of the press club. A large number of AT activists also participated in the demonstration.

The Awami Tehrik chief deplored that sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities, poverty, hunger and unemployment had converted the country into a living hell.

Mr Palijo said that the gravity of the situation could be gauged from the fact that a number of people irked by abject poverty had offered to sell their children.

He, however, said that the working class had become conscious of its rights and would bring about a revolution in the country.

In an optimistic tone, the nationalist leader said that that Pakistan and Afghanistan would be transformed into the graveyard of imperialism.

He said that even after independence from the British rule way back in 1947; Pakistan had not achieved its real sovereignty as it had always remained a surrogate of US imperialism.

Mr Palijo said that our rulers had always remained subservient to the whims and wishes of the US.

He said that Pakistan came into being under the 1940 resolution but the Pakistan Resolution had never been implemented in letter and spirit.

Highlighting the role of the OGDCL in the uplift of the country’s economy, the leader of the OGDCL labour union, Sain Bux Dhayo, categorically said that the privatization of such an important asset would not be accepted.

The leader of the Sindhiani Tehrik, Zahida Shaikh, said that Sindh belonged to the Sindhis and nobody had the right to decide the fate of its natural resources. She also criticized the rulers for following the dictates of the US.

Labour leader Choudhry Akram said that the representatives of the masses could not win elections without the support of the workers. But, he added, it was an irony that after getting elected the same people started working against the interests of the workers by backing such privatization plans.

“If there is no money in the national exchequer, the OGDCL workers are prepared to deposit their salaries and GP funds to the national exchequer”, he said adding that the workers would not at all allow privatisation of the OGDCL.