Local government backlash

Local government backlash: Amid song and dance, anti-Sindh mantra goes on

Excerpt;

…. Wearing red caps and holding placards inscribed with anti-government slogans, the protesters, men, women and children, staged a sit-in in front of the press club.

A sea of red flags of different Sindhi nationalist parties filled the roads from Karachi Press Club to Fawara Chowk and from Arts Council to Zainab Market.

The protest call was given by the Sindh Bachayo Committee (Save Sindh Committee). Different political parties, including Awami Tahreek, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, Jeay Sindh Tehreek, Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party, Sindh United Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, joined in.

And almost every leader of the party vented his anger against the government for passing the Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance 2012.

Jalal Mehmood Shah, the Save Sindh Movement convenor; Dr Qadir Magsi of Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party; Dr Safdar Sarki of Jeay Sindh Tehreek; Sanan Qureshi of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, Saleem Zia of the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League; Masroor Jatoi of National Peoples Party; and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Asadullah Bhutto were among those who spoke.

Sindh is our motherland and no one would let the PPP and its coalition partner to divide it, said Dr Qadir Magsi. Criticising the ruling party and its leadership, he said that people of Sindh should not expect good things from the PPP any more. ….

In his speech, Jalal Mehmood Shah announced an “unending” struggle against the new local government system and termed the rally a referendum against the system. “This large gathering proves that people of Sindh will not accept the black law, which has been imposed in the province at gunpoint,” he said.

The nationalist leader reiterated that rallies, hunger strikes and all other protests will go on in the province until the law is withdrawn. ….

Read more » The Express Tribune

http://tribune.com.pk/story/449844/local-government-backlash-amid-song-and-dance-anti-sindh-mantra-goes-on/

Pakistan : Sindh breaks the silence!

Karachi – Sindh: Today on January 05, 2011 in the evening hundreds of people turned up at Karachi press club against the assassination of Salman Taseer. They marched from press club to Zainab market (Saddar). Male- female participants were chanting slogans against the assassination of Salman Taseer & “mulla minded” forces. At the end candles were lit to pay tribute to salman Taseer.

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Khipro rape incident: crimes against women

BY AZIZ NAREJO

VIOLENCE and other crimes against women are alarmingly high in Pakistan. Rape, murder in the name of karo-kari, gender-based discrimination and denial of basic rights are some common forms of the evil prevailing in the country.

It is unfortunate that the government and civil society organisations don’t seem to be taking this issue seriously.

There have been some highly publicised cases of rape and other atrocities but thousands of cases go unnoticed.

One such recent incident is the alleged rape of a girl student in Khipro, Sanghar district, Sindh.

According to the news report, a Class X student was gang-raped by some culprits who also made the video of the act of violence against her and later published it.

As the news spread, parents of other students have stopped their daughters from going to the school, which has deprived about 900 girl students of their education.

It is a major setback to the education of girl students in an otherwise backward area where many parents already are not keen to send their daughters to school.

Read more >> Dawn

More details – BBC urdu