NEW YORK - The Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) says that the suffering of the Sindhi people had continued under the PPP government they had elected in the hope that their plight would improve. In a resolution adopted at the just-ended 25th annual convention in Saint Louis, Missouri, SANA accused PPP of surrendering to the black mail of MQM, which, it said, dominated the provincial government and was diverting development funds to large cities or withholding them. It said that Sindhis continue to feel helpless at the inability of the elected PPP government to fulfill the promises that the party made to their constituencies. The SANA demanded that the coalition government in Sindh should achieve a balance by bringing an end to continued discriminatory practices and ensuring equitable share of Sindhis in educational and economic opportunities. It urged that both federal and Sindh provincial governments should initiate affirmative action programmes to alleviate the plight of poverty-stricken in rural Sindh and massively increase educational opportunities there. In another resolution, SANA called upon the PPP and Sindhi nationalist parties to begin a dialogue on a joint strategy for alleviating problems faced by Sindhis and bring welfare to rural population. As the amalgamation and bifurcation of old districts in the cities of Hyderabad and Karachi have failed to live up to the promise of progress, SANA demanded that old district structure in the cities of Hyderabad and Karachi be restored. The SANA called for autonomy and sovereignty for the provinces according to the 1940 Resolution with only the subjects of defence, telecommunications, currency, foreign affairs and inter-provincial coordination to stay with the federal government. It said the provinces should be given ownership of the oil, gas, mineral and other resources and the Senate should be made more powerful giving it authority to initiate money bills and approve key federal appointments, including high court judges and chiefs of the armed forces. The Senate should also be recomposed with each province having 25 members. In another resolution, SANA demanded a just water apportionment on the basis of the 1945 Sindh-Punjab agreement, compensation to Sindh for the reduced water share during last 50 years, stoppage of work on Greater Thal Canal and any dams upstream. It asked the federal government to assist and promote construction of hydroelectric projects in Sindh. SANA demanded that Punjabi, Seraiki, Sindhi, Pushto and Balochi be declared as national languages in Pakistan and 1972 Language Act be implemented. The SANA called upon the federal and provincial governments to take steps to discourage any mass migrations to Sindh from other provinces or foreign countries that threaten the majority of Sindhis in Sindh. It asked for the steps to encourage those who have already migrated to Sindh to return to their home countries and home provinces. A large number of people attended the four-day SANA silver jubilee convention, according to an associations press release. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Sindh, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui and founder of the American Institute of Sindhulogy Dial Gidwani were the keynote speakers at the convention while Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro was the main speaker at the conventions speakers session. Other speakers included MNA Gul Mohammad Jakhrani, Dr Suleman Shaikh, head of Mehran TV, Ghulam Nabi Morai, secretary Sindh Democratic Forum Zulfiqar Halepoto, Nazeer Essani and Sikander Baloch. A number of sessions were held during the convention that included a session on hepatitis in Sindh, a Sindhi literary session, a medical seminar, ladies and youth programmes and Sindhi music programm. Local youth presented a fashion show, a humorous skit, dances and other items. Sindhi singers included Ghansham Vaswani from India, Stephen Diwan from New Jersey and Versha and Kiran Manjiani from UK, the press release said.