February 15, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 16, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: Speakers at a seminar here on Tuesday had a consensus that a military regime had no right to make decisions on water-related issues, and that construction of big dams should be left to the future civilian government.

The seminar on “Dams and Delta” was organized by the PPP’s central information bureau (CIB). PPP President Makhdoom Amin Fahim presided over the event.

The speakers included parliamentarians, members of the civil society organizations and office-bearers of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) from all the four provinces and Azad Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Fahim said the country had already suffered a lot due to one-man rule. He said a military man sold rivers of Pakistan, and the country faced a humiliating defeat in 1971 when another military man was ruling the country.

The newly-appointed finance secretary of the PPP, Dr Babar Awan, said Mangla Dam, which was once considered to be a matter of pride, had become a security threat to the people of Kashmir. He said the country had been under the military rule for the past over 35 years and the generals had not given any mega project to the nation.

“The generals only have launched mega-housing schemes for themselves, but no mega projects for the country,” he maintained.

Shah Mohammad Shah of the PPP Sindh said water issues were very old and there were agreements between the Punjab and Sindh even before the creation of Pakistan. He alleged that Gen Musharraf had raised the Kalabagh dam issue only to pitch provinces against each other. Under the constitution, he said, even the president and the prime minister did not have powers to make any decision on water issues.

PPP Secretary-General Raja Pervez Ashraf said Gen Musharraf could not even convince coalition partners in the government from Sindh on the Kalabagh dam issue. A government consisting of turncoats could not make decisions on dams, he said.

Central Information Secretary of the PPP Taj Haider said it was strange that a person who had mutilated the Constitution was talking about constitutional guarantees. He said the government had not carried out any proper study to suggest steps to save Thatha and Badin from sea erosion. He lauded the report of ANG Abbasi on the dams issue. He said there would be no delta if big dams were constructed on Indus River.

Haji Adeel of the Awami National Party said opposition to Kalabagh dam even by the people of Punjab had pleased them. He said dams should not be built at the cost of Pakistan and its people.

President of PPP Balochistan Lashkari Raeesani said only the serving and retired armymen had all the rights in Pakistan and civilians were considered to be the fifth grade citizens.

PPP Azad Kashmir President Ishaq Zafar said the country needed water sources before construction of big dams. He said the sources of water were in Azad Kashmir and if Gen Musharraf remained in power, Pakistan could lose these sources.

Qasim Zia, PPP Punjab president, said the people of Punjab were with the people of other provinces on all important issues, including dams. He said the Punjab would not allow any project in the country which could harm the federation.

PPP Punjab Information Secretary Naveed Chaudhry read out resolutions on the occasion, demanding end to the military rule, return of exiled leaders to the country and fresh general elections.

Dr Aftab Sulehri of the International Human Rights Observer said there should be human rights-based approach towards construction of big dams as water was a basic need of the human beings.

Khadim Hussain, a representative of ActionAid, said the military and civil bureaucracies were pursuing the policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. He criticized Gen Musharraf for quoting a WB report in his address to the nation in support for the construction of big dams.

Jamal Mustafa of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum regretted that the government did not allow the fishermen to organize a seminar against the construction of Kalabagh dam in Islamabad. He said environmental degradation was taking place in the coastal areas as no study was carried out by any one before construction of big dams in the country.

MPA Farzana Raja, who is also the coordinator of the PPP’s CIB, said the rulers had been raising the issue of big dams only to perpetuate their “illegitimate” rule. She said her party was in favour of dialogue between those who wanted construction of big dams and those who were supporting small reservoirs. She said the PPP believed that no dam was above the country’s solidarity.

Prominent among those present on the occasion were MNAs Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed, Qamaruz Zaman Kaira, Zamarrud Khan, Nayyar Bokhari, Zulfiqar Gondal and Fauzia Habib, PPP Islamabad women wing President Nargis Faiz Malik, Syed Abrar Rizvi, Zakariya Butt, B.A. Malik, Qazi Sultan Mehmood and Agha Riazul Islam.