PPP leader criticizes Aziz for supporting Kalabagh
By Our Correspondent
THATTA, July 14: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz is a known supporter of the Kalabagh dam and the Greater Thal canal and, therefore, voting for him in the water-starved Tharparkar will be a mistake.
This was stated by the convener of the Anti-Greater Thal Canal Action Committee and the leader of opposition in Sindh Assembly, Nisar Khuhro, at a water conference in Mirpur Bathoro on Tuesday evening.
However, he confidently said the Thari people were politically aware and would never vote for Mr Aziz. He urged the people of Thar not to vote for Mr Aziz. Mr Khuhro said that the people of Sindh should identify those politicians who had maintained criminal silence over the budgetary allocation of Rs1.5 billion for the construction of the Thal canal.
Other speakers included Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Palijo, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party chief Dr Qadir Magsi and Afzal Gujjar of the PML-N. They said that the rulers of Sindh were bent upon selling the interests of the province but its people would not remain silent on the issues like the Kalabagh dam and Greater Thal canal.
They were of the opinion that some feudal politicians had been planted by the "autocratic" President General Pervez Musharraf to construct the controversial water projects.
Mr Palijo said that Pakistan had not came into being to serve the interests of a particular privileged class. The Thal canal would benefit only the armymen who owned land in its command area, he added.
MPA Sassui Palijo lamented that despite resolution adopted by the Sindh Assembly, the controversial dam project was being advocated. The conference lasted till midnight.
