Karachi: Brutal use of police force in Sindh on peaceful protestors has shown that only hooliganism prevails in Sindh instead of democracy, charged Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leaders here Thursday.
Addressing a crowded press conference in the Karachi Press Club (KPC), PTI Sindh chapter president Dr Arif Alvi, senior executive vice president Haleem Adil Sheikh, PTI Karachi Division President Firdous Shamim Naqvi and other leaders strongly condemned the police baton charge on PTI rally and said the PTI would continue to support the just demands of the growers of Sindh.
Dr Arif Alvi said in Sindh there is no such a thing like a democratic government. He said in Sindh there is just a sort of hooliganism. He said brutal police force is used to suppress the voice of peaceful protestors. He said previous day they tried to stop the Kisan Insaf Rally by placing barriers at different points and our workers were meted out police torture. He said when they went towards the CM House to hand a charter of demands of growers the police arrested PTI leaders and workers and beat them up. He said PTI leaders Haleem Adil Sheikh and Naeem Adil Sheikh were also tortured.
He said the PTI has become the voice of the people of Sindh and we will stand shoulder by shoulder with the people of Sindh in their struggle for just rights and we are not afraid of any police action. He said after the protest of growers, though the sugar mills of Sindh have been opened but we apprehend that the growers would not be given the approved support rate. He said if so a big movement would be launched in the province led by PTI Chairman Imran Khan that would be a ‘Zardari Bhagao-Sindh Bachao’ movement.
Haleem Adil Sheikh said every year the federal and Sindh governments exploit the sugarcane growers. He said we along with workers and growers were coming from Hyderabad to Karachi in a peaceful rally when the police stopped us at different places and subjected our workers to torture. He said when we finally reached Karachi and going to the CM House to hand them a charter of demands, the police again stopped and arrested us and meted out brutal torture. He said hundreds of PTI workers including him were injured in the police torture.
He said we will not leave alone the people of Sindh. He said in Sindh 19 sugar mills belong to a particular mafia; that is why the provincial government is supporting the sugar millers instead of growers. He said there is no peoples’ government in Sindh, but a force to safeguard vested interests. He warned that if the growers are not given the promised rate a province-wide movement would be launched. He said besides growers, teachers are also protesting in Sindh and we will also fight for their rights.
He said the government has deprived the people of Sindh of Roti, Kapra and Makan. He said the ruling quarters are involved in encroaching lands including forestlands.
He said the people of Sindh have already rejected the sitting regime that is least concerned about the problems of people and only interested to make more money from corruption.
He reminded that the sugarcane crop was harvested in October but the growers are still protesting when it is January and the government has failed to give them any relief.
He said the PTI supports the poor masses and it would continue to chase the looters and thieves. He said in Sindh the next government would be formed by the PTI.