(Press release): July 14, 2013 – Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) general body unanimously adopted following resolutions at its 29th annual convention held in San Francisco, CA, July 4-7, 2013.

Desperate Situation: SANA expresses grave concern at the critical and desperate situation in Sindh where people live under abject poverty; where there is no safety and security of life and property; where terrorism and corruption rule the roost; where education is not guaranteed for all the children; where youth doesn’t see any future; where people don’t have access to economic opportunities; where women and minorities are denied their basic rights; where efforts are being made to artificially change the demography of the province; where people are denied their inalienable human rights; where people are pushed into dark ages and they see no light at the end of the tunnel.

Peace: SANA holds the present and the past governments responsible for the miserable situation and calls for immediate steps to bring drastic changes to improve the lot of the people. It calls upon the government to restore peace, end the politics of violence and ensure the security of the life and the property. There cannot be any progress and development without peace.

Education: It is unfortunate that the education, which should have got top priority, remains to be the most neglected subject. SANA calls upon the government to accord required importance to education and make all possible efforts on war footings to provide quality education to the youth so that they can become productive citizens. SANA also calls for opening up all the urban educational institutions for all the students in the province without any discrimination.

Corruption: It is noted with grave concern that corruption has become a norm in the society. It has actually grown manifolds in the past few years. The major part of the budget is eaten away by corrupt politicians, civil and military bureaucrats and other influential people leaving only a little for any development projects. All out efforts should be made to eradicate corruption from the society.

Resources and Autonomy:

It is a matter of great importance that the provinces be made the masters and the owners of all of their natural and other resources. Provincial autonomy is meaningless without provinces getting the ownership of resources. The government must take immediate steps to introduce necessary Constitutional amendments.

Water Rights:

Water rights of the lower riparian are internationally recognized. It is a matter of grave concern that the federal government does not care for the water rights of the lower riparian province and does not follow the water accord signed between the provinces. As a result, Sindh does not get its fair share and agriculture in the province suffers immensely. SANA calls upon the federal government to ensure fair distribution of water among the provinces. SANA also cautions against starting work on any major water projects or dams upstream without the approval of the lower riparian province.

Women and Minorities:

SANA deplores the unfair treatment meted out to women and minorities in Sindh and all of Pakistan. There is increased violence and terrorism against minorities and the basic rights of women continue to be violated. SANA calls upon the federal and the provincial governments to protect the basic rights of the minorities and women and ensure their safety and security.

Cultural Rights & National Language:

SANA calls upon the federal and the provincial governments to ensure and safeguard the cultural rights of the federating units. It also calls upon the government to accede to the longstanding demand by the people of Sindh to accord the status of the national language to Sindhi language along with the languages of the other provinces.

Artificial Changes in Demography:

SANA strongly condemns the efforts by some quarters to bring artificial changes in the demography in Sindh by migration from other provinces and foreign countries. SANA calls upon the government to safeguard the inalienable rights to the land of its people and stop all the efforts to cause any demographic changes. The government through law may protect the rights to vote, acquiring of property and conducting of business for the people of the respective federating units. SANA also calls upon the government to deport all the illegal immigrants who cause law and order problem and are a drain on the economy and the resources besides creating social and other problems.

Economic Development, Employment Opportunities:

It is a matter of great concern that federal and provincial governments have not initiated any major economic development initiatives in Sindh to create employment opportunities for the people in the province. This has caused poverty in Sindh where a large segment of the population is living below poverty line. It is a matter of shame for the federal and provincial governments. They must take immediate steps to initiate major economic development projects to create employment opportunities for the people. The government has to fight the poverty on war footings.

Owner of Karachi:

SANA is alarmed at situation of Karachi that is plague by unabated violence, ethnic cleansing and blatant discrimination against people of sindh, MQM while working with other political and non political forces have virtually banned jobs and educational opportunities for sindhis, we demand from current government to take back the ownership and restore a judicious system that serves people of sindh with discrimination vis-a-vis jobs at all levels and every departments, contracts awards and admissions in educational institutions of capital of sindh.

Land ownership:

In the name of land reforms and maintenance of law and order situation thousands of acres have been allotted to people without appropriate possession and protected, at the same time thousands of acres have been allotted to armed forces at meager amounts giving them total control over provincial lands. we demand that all further allotments be frozen immediately as well as inquire into past allotments and recover a fair market value for leases granted.

We also demand that unused land to be distributed to deserving people of sindh along with physical possession and protection from land grabbing influential people.

Extra-judicial killings and disappearances:

SANA is appalled at lawlessness perpetrated by law enforcement agencies by extra-judicial killings and disappearances of political and human rights activists, we demand that the practice be stopped immediately bring to tasks all violators, we also requests high court of sindh and supreme court of Pakistan to take action again such element and restore confidence of people of sindh in judicial system.

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