HYDERABAD: Sindh Taraqqi-Pasand Party (STP) Chairman Dr Qadir Magsi has warned the present government against doing anything unconstitutional or holding a referendum to create new provinces, saying that Sindh would strongly resist any such step.

He made it clear that the territorial integrity of Sindh and the Indus river were not only sacred but a red line for the people of Sindh, and that the decision to protect both would come from the people of Sindh.

Dr Magsi was speaking at a press conference at the local press club, along with party leaders, where he announced a public mobilisation campaign on the issue of Sindh’s integrity, beginning on Sept 20 from Thatta and culminating in Karachi with a public meeting on Nov 15 at Bagh-i-Jinnah. He said gatherings and rallies would be held during the campaign.

He said he had expected the prime minister to sack a few federal ministers from the cabinet for bad-mouthing the federating units, as their harangues against the provinces had created unrest among them, especially Sindh, but the premier himself had preferred to remain silent on the issue.

He said Sindh had faced such a situation from day one, when in 1948 it was to be declared Pakistan’s capital but someone then decided to shift the Sindh Assembly out of Karachi. He said One Unit was later imposed to convince people it would ensure the country’s progress, but the decision instead caused Pakistan’s dismemberment.

Today, he said, there was instability across half the country, with Balochistan facing a permanent conflict where the national anthem was not played, while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister himself paid “ransom” for his own life.

With such a critical situation in the country, he said, some intriguers were fuelling further instability to push the country towards destruction. He said these elements were telling the provinces that had created Pakistan that they would now be divided to create new ones. He wondered whose agenda this was.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2026