The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Haqooq-e-Sindh march arrives in Karachi today (March 6) after traversing the province days before a similar march led by the ruling party of Sindh – the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – is set to reach Islamabad with the aim to dislodge the PTI led federal government.
The PTI had announced to hold the Haqooq-e-Sindh – rights of Sindh – march after the PPP rolled out its plans to march on the federal capital to force the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government to step down because of its failure to contain inflation and unemployment.
The PTI’s march led by the party vice chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, started its journey on February 26 from Kamo Shaheed, an area which lies between Punjab and Sindh provinces. Federal Minister for Port and Shipping Ali Zaidi was accompanying Qureshi.
Qureshi, who is the gaddi-nasheen – spiritual heir – at the famous Bahauddin Zakaria Multani shrine of southern Punjab city of Multan, also heads the Ghousia Jamaat, an otherwise apolitical religious group with a large number of followers in Sindh.
And it was the members of the Ghousia Jamaat, who along with the activists of the PTI and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) – a coalition partner of the PTI in the Centre – welcomed Qureshi’s convoy when it reached Sindh.
The convoy stayed in Sukkur overnight before leaving for Shikarpur, Kashmore and Jacobabad. Leaders of the march addressed public gatherings in all the three cities.
In Jacobabad where the convoy stayed for one night, Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar and Federal Minister for Privatization Muhammad Mian Soomro joined the march. The convoy later moved to Qambar Shahdad Kot and Larkana, where the PTI leaders addressed large public meetings.
Political activists and leaders of the GDA, including Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Amir Bakhsh Bhutto, MNA Ghous Bakhsh Khan Mehr, Ghalib Domki, Inayatullah Rind as well as PTI lawmakers Moazzam Ali Abbasi, Raja Jakhrani and a number of other politicians also joined the convoy.
During their speeches, the leaders claimed that the PPP government has destroyed the provincial Institutions while corruption is on the rise. They said PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari does not even venture out of palatial residences to know the plight of the people of the province.
“The PPP government is criticizing the federation by declaring that everything is good in Sindh,” Qureshi said in one of his speeches. Reiterating the march’s slogan, he said the arrow – which is the PPP’s longtime election symbol – must be broken in order to unite Sindh.
The leaders urged the people to get themselves out of the clutches of the PPP as the province cannot progress until the people of Sindh get rid of the party which has been ruling the province for the last 15 years but has failed to deliver anything.
“It is not [Zulfikar Ali] Bhutto’s party but Zardari League, this party is an obstacle in the way to development and prosperity of Sindhi people,” Qureshi said on one occasion.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the founder of the PPP and Asif Ali Zardari became the party’s co-chairman after the assassination of his wife and former premier Benazir Bhutto in December 2007.
Qureshi told the audience of a rally that the PTI led provincial governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had provided health insurance cards to every inhabitant of the respective province and would also offer the same facility to the people of Sindh if the PTI is elected to power.
He said the PTI is ready to be held accountable for its three-and-a-half-year rule.
“The prime minister is ready to give an account of his tenure but [PPP Chairman] Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and [co-chairman] Asif Ali Zardari must also give an account of their 15-year-rule in Sindh”.
“The entire nation knows that thousands of billions of rupees have come to Sindh. Where did they go? How did corruption take place and who deprived the people of Sindh of their rights?”
Qureshi, Zaidi and Umar expressed happiness over the large turnout at the Larkana meeting and hoped that the PTI and its allies would be able to give at the next general election a tough time to the PPP in Larkana, which is regarded as the bastion of Sindh’s ruling party.
After staying for one night in Larkana, the convoy left for Nawabshah via Tando Masti Khairpur.
In a conversation with Bol News at the beginning of the march, Qureshi said the purpose of the march is to tell the people of Sindh that the PPP has been ruling the province for the last 15 years and yet the situation of Sindh is the worst in terms of development.
“Education and health sectors are in shambles. People do not have basic facilities. The law and order situation in the province is precarious. Robbery is rampant. There are street crimes. After the 18th Amendment, a provincial government cannot blame the federal government for everything.”
Qureshi said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is going to march against the federal government in Islamabad but he has failed to ensure good governance in his native province.
“We have come out to wake up the people of Sindh. Now stand up and stand up for your rights. Get rid of this PPP which is no longer the party of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.
“Now it has become the Zardari League. Everything is being sold here. The market for corruption is hot so the people of Sindh need change now and that change will come,” he said
Participation of people
A large number of people came out to welcome the convoy whenever it reached a new destination. It received a warm welcome at Pano Aqil, where women from rural areas could also be seen showering flower petals on the political leaders.
When Bol News asked the people who had come out to welcome the leaders, a majority of the people said that the PPP government in Sindh has not worked for the development of the province.
“Corruption is so much that even legitimate work in any government office is not possible without greasing the palms of the relevant officials,” said a middle aged man.
“In the province there has been no development but the people in the government have filled their pockets in the name of development projects,” he added.
A young activist said the provincial ministers and advisers are selling government jobs. “The PPP is in power in the province and yet the party’s call for a long march has failed to draw enough people.”
Some people said the PPP chairman is marching against the federal government but the condition of his own province is bad. Corruption is on the rise. Law and order situation is very bad. People are being killed and kidnapped in Karachi. People are scared to go out because of street crime.
The Haqooq-e-Sindh March, which started on February 26, seems to have succeed in creating the impression among the people of the province also want a political change
How a clash was avoided
The Haqooq-e-Sindh March was marching towards Nawabshah via Ranipur and Nowshero Feroze and there was a 100% chance that it would encounter the PPP led long march which left for Islamabad from Karachi on February 27.
In order to forestall any possible conflict and encounter of the activists of rival parties, officials of security agencies as well as the PTI and the PPP leaderships held talks and later the participants of Haqooq-e-Sindh March changed their route from Ranipur and took the Mehran Highway.
