The Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum (PFFF) staged a token hunger-strike outside Hyderabad Press Club on Thursday demanding an end of alleged forceful occupation of the big and small lakes in Sindh. Addressing the protesters the PFFF’s Chairman Syed Muhammad Ali Shah claimed that influential persons and feudal lords were allegedly illegally occupying an overwhelming majority of some 1,209 lakes in Sindh. “These influential persons are occupying more than 600 important lakes in Sindh. The ordinary fishermen who belong to the local area are denied fishing in the lakes,” he claimed. He recalled that after decades long struggle of the fishermen the Sindh Government amended the Sindh Fisheries Ordinance, 1980, by enacting the Sindh Fisheries Amendment Act, 2011. “The Act accepted the long time demand of the fishermen and abolished the system of awarding contracts over the lakes and introduced the issuance of licenses to fishermen,” he said.However, Shah lamented that despite enactment of the law 6 years its enforcement had not been carried out so far. “So, practically the fishermen despite being legally accepted as having the right to fish in waterways are being denied that right,” he argued.Ramzan Mallah, advocate Ali Palh, Punhal Sario and advocate Sattar Sarki also spoke. APP/zmb/abd

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