HYDERABAD, Oct 9: Expressing concern over the differences between two civil society groups working for the cause of bonded labour, one supporting Mannu Bheel and the other his opponents, leaders of different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have decided to strive for the elimination of bonded labour together.

Speaking at a joint news conference here on Thursday, Karamat Ali of Piler, Suleman G. Abro of SAWFCO, Hussain Bux Thebo, Zulfiqar Shah of South Asia Partnership, Zulfiqar Halepoto of SDF and others said that some time back a liberated Hari woman, Meena Kolhi, had accused Mannu Bheel of assaulting her and kidnapping her daughter.

Besides staging protest demonstration and hunger strikes, Ms Meena Kolhi had also filed a case against Mannu Bheel, they said.

They said that some civil society organisations working against bonded labour also became involved and while one group supported Mannu Bheel, the other sided with Ms Meena Kolhi.

They said that due to this confrontation between the two groups working for the same cause, leaders of civil society organisations convened a meeting at the PILER’s office Karachi on Aug 17.

The meeting was also attended by Comrade Ghulam Hussain who was supporting Mannu Bheel and Dr Ghulam Haider who had taken up the cause of Meena Kolhi.

They said that the matter was thoroughly discussed and the two parties agreed to desist from staging protest demonstrations or issuing statements against each other and also to withdraw counter cases.

In order to investigate the matter, the meeting appointed a two-member committee comprising Comrade Hussain Bux Thebo and Punhal Sario, they said.

The speakers said that according to the report of the committee, no evidence was found against Mannu Bheel while Ms Meena Kolhi did not cooperate with the committee.

They said that the committee was of the opinion that those people who had kidnapped the family members of Mannu Bheel were likely to have instigated Ms Meena Kolhi against Mannu Bheel to undermine the struggle against bonded labour.