Sindh United Party
The Sindh United Party is a Sindhi nationalist political party which aims to have right of People of Sindh over their homeland in Sindh, Pakistan. It is currently led by Syed Jalal Mahmood Shah, the grandson of veteran national leader G. M. Syed and ex-deputy speaker of Sindh Assembly.
Party Platform
The SUP believes that the Sindhis are a nation, and had historically been independent prior to the invasion of the British. In light of this, the party aims for a:
`confederation`, or a state where there is genuine provincial autonomy for each of the four provinces of Pakistan (Sindh, Punjab, NWFP and Baluchistan). The party desires to bring about the same kind of autonomy which is currently being enjoyed by the states in the US and [by the provinces of] Canada, the states of India and Australia, and the cantons in Switzerland.[1]
However, the degree of autonomy enjoyed by provinces, states, and cantons in the mentioned countries vary widely. The party also believes its desire for a confederation of Pakistani provinces on the premise:
that the `provincial autonomy` which presently exists in Pakistan, provided in accordance with the Government of India Act of 1935, was actually meant for the provinces of colonial India and not for the provinces of a free and independent Pakistan. But after that in 1940 (Lahore resolution) was the main theme of Independent Pakistan. The Lahore Resolution is totally in favour of a Confederation.[1]
SUP also believes that the Pakistani state has been detrimentally affected by political and economic domination of the country by Punjab, the largest province in Pakistan. Furthermore, the party asserts that a Pakistani confederation would actually significantly strengthen Pakistan, while at the same time ensuring the rights of Pakistan's numerous ethnic groups, which in turn would weaken any possible secessionist sympathies in the future.[1] It must be emphasized that contrary to media portrayal in Afghanistan and India, the party neither calls for Sindhi independence, nor does it even suggest that independence would be desirable.[1]
History
The SUP was formed on 9 December 2006 at a political workers convention at G.M Sayed Edifice Jamshoro, in Sindh. The grandson of Veteran national leader Sain G.M Sayed and former deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah announced the foundation of a new party with the nomenclature of the "Sindh United Party."
References
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