KARACHI, June 25: A huge rally against Thal canal, organized by the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, on Wednesday rejected the project and vowed to “resist attempts to turn Sindh into a desert”.

The attitude of Punjab and federal governments was also criticized and a strong warning was issued to them against denying the lower riparian province its rights.

The participants maintained that the GTC project was a violation of the rights of the lower riparians and detrimental to the interests of Sindh.

Amid tight security around the venue, the protesters, carrying party flags and anti-GTC placards and banners, chanted slogans against the project and burnt an effigy of the Punjab irrigation minister for his controversial statement. The protesters had come to the KPC from far-flung areas of the province.

Deputy convener of the MQM’s coordination committee, Nasreen Jalil, opposed the project and assured that her party would support the struggle for the rights of the province.

She was critical of the authorities who had embarked the project without showing any concern for the people of Sindh. She said that water scarcity was badly affecting the people of Sindh.

Chairman JSQM Bahsir Qureshi claimed the rally was a vote against the GTC construction. He criticised the ‘indifferent attitude of the establishment’ towards the needs and problems of Sindh, and for showing contempt to the resolutions adopted by the Sindh Assembly.

He said that the land of saints had been turned into a desert through water shortage and denial of rights. He warned if the construction of the GTC did not stop, the people of Sindh would block all the roads leading to Punjab.

Waseem Akhtar of the MQM, Shafi Karnani of the JSQM, Shabir Jamali and Azhar Jatoi also spoke on the occasion.