Nationalist parties threaten encroaching govt lands

Staff Report

KARACHI: Workers and supporters belonging to four Sindh-based nationalist parties staged a protest demonstration on Tuesday against the Sindh government for not providing accommodation to flood affected people in Karachi and other major cities of the province.

They warned that nationalist parties would initiate a move for possession of the vacant government land in Karachi for flood-affected people in case the government failed to provide accommodation to them.

They gathered outside the Karachi Press Club following a province-wide protest call given by Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP), Awami Tehreek (AT) and Sindh National Party.

The workers and protestors carried the flags of their parties and were chanting slogans against the government.

Speakers claimed that the Sindh government had promised to accommodate the displaced people in Karachi and other major cities but now it has backtracked.

They criticised the government for not handling the flood emergency properly.

They demanded each flood-affected family should be given Rs 500,000 financial assistance and residential plots in major cities.

Addressing the protest demonstration, JSQM Central Secretary General Asif Baladi appealed to the residents of Karachi to welcome the flood affected people in the city.

STPP’s Ali Hassan Chandio alleged the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was not in favour of the settlement of flood affectees in the city.

He appreciated the PML-N government in Punjab for providing houses to the flood victims in the province.