Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) in a press statement issued in Austin, TX, today, has expressed deep grief and sorrow at the demise of a great leader, a lawyer and an intellectual par excellence, Mr. Rasool Bakhsh Palijo.

“A fighter by nature”, the statement noted, “Mr. Palijo never gave in to the forces of tyranny and injustice. Throughout his 89 years of life, he struggled to bring about a positive change in the lives of fellow human beings. A sage, who taught generations of Sindhis the value of freedom and meaning of patriotism, is no more with us.”

All through his life, Mr. Palijo fought politically, legally and through his pen for the marginalized people of Sindh. Sindhi nation especially cannot forget the heroic role he played in the restoration of democracy movement during the dark days of dictator Ziaul Haque, as a result of which he was incarcerated for a prolonged time by the martial law regime. Amnesty International declared him a “Prisoner of Conscience”.

A voracious reader and a keen student of politics, he introduced the same kind of romanticism and idealism to Pakistani politics as espoused by Nelson Mandela, Mao Zedong, and other great revolutionaries.

With Mr. Palijo’s death, the nation, especially Sindh, has become poorer.

In a statement issued in Austin, Texas today, SANA urged the government agencies to stop unlawful arrests, abductions, torture and murder of activists and innocent people. It said rule of law must be established and all unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful activities must stop.

SANA strongly condemned the attack by Sindh police & rangers on the hunger strike camp organized by the relatives of the missing persons in Sindh at Karachi Press Club. During the attack on the peaceful protest camp at KPC, brute force and violence was used against the participants and specially women who had gathered at the camp to demand the release of their loved ones some of whom have been missing for several months and in some cases for years. Government agencies also took away four workers from the camp. SANA also condemned police action against the protest camp at National Press Club in Islamabad demanding release of missing persons from Sindh and elsewhere.

SANA statement said in a democracy, it is people’s basic right to gather, protest and freely express their opinion. The government and its institutions must respect the law and should not use force, violence or strong arm tactics against the people demanding justice and rule of law. SANA said the Constitution guarantees the safety, security and basic human rights of the citizens. No law allows undeclared arrests and abductions of the citizens and their torture and murder. The statement said government must produce all the missing persons, release them from unlawful detention and if there is any case against any missing person, it should be brought to a court of law.

SANA urged the government to respect law of the land and avoid following law of jungle. Unlawful, unjust and brutal policies will give birth to more unrest among the people and impair and undermine the security situation and stability of the country. Government should listen to the people, try to solve their problems instead of using brute force against them and create more problems and fissures in the society.