March 23, 2006	Thursday	Safar 22, 1427

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HYDERABAD, March 22: Activists of the Sindh National Council held a demonstration outside the press club here on Wednesday to mark the World Water Day. The council issued a declaration opposing construction of any dam on the Indus River.

It observed that successive governments had rejected the opinion of people of the smaller provinces with a view to protecting interests of one province.

It said that unless the 1940 resolution was implemented in letter and spirit and the federating units were given equal representation in parliament and other national institutions, the oppressed nations would have no option but to continue their struggle for their inherent rights.

The declaration made it clear that Sindh had the first right over waters of the Indus and, therefore, construction of any barrage, dam or canal on the river without consent of the people of the province would be illegal and unconstitutional. It said if any water reservoir was constructed on the Indus, Sindh would be converted into a desert and its agriculture sector would be destroyed.

It warned the government that construction of any dam on the Indus would create hatred among the people of the federating units and lead to the 1971-like situation.

OPEN LETTER: Humaira Rehman of the World Sindhi Institute has sent an open letter to Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi.

According to documents available with Dawn, the open letter was personally given to Mr Jatoi by Ms Rehman and Munawar Leghari, directors of the World Sindhi Institute, on March 20 in the Mexico city where he had gone to attend the World Water Forum.

The letter reminded Mr Jatoi that depriving Sindh of its primary right over the waters of the Indus was an unlawful and illegitimate piracy on the province’s natural resources. It said that under international conventions, rights of lower riparians were honoured everywhere but Sindh was consistently denied its right on waters of the Indus.

It said Sindh’s contribution to the national revenue stood at 67 per cent while it received only 17 per cent from the divisible pool.

The letter told Mr Jatoi that he had two choices, either to turn his back on Sindh and continue to serve the military dictatorship or to support Sindhis demanding their just and legitimate share of Indus waters.

According to reports, copies of the letter were also distributed among participants of the forum and the media.

MALLAH TANZIM: The World Water Day was also commemorated by the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Mallah Tanzim at the Manjhi House in Hussainabad, Hyderabad.

The function was presided over by Tanzim president Mohammad Arib Mallah. Labour leader Hote Khan was the chief guest and Union Council Nazim Abbas Khan was the guest of honour.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohammad Khan, Yousuf Keerano, Aslam Mirbahar, Khair Mohammad Soomro observed that only those nations had survived who had realized the importance of water.

They criticized water policies of the government and alleged that a conspiracy had been hatched to destroy Sindh by withholding its water share.

The gathering adopted several resolutions demanding introduction of a licence system for catching fish in sweet waters of Sindh, release of water downstream Kotri Barrage in accordance with the 1991 water accord, implementation of a ban on small nets and initiation of an inquiry into alleged corrupt practices of the fisheries department.

Our Khairpur Correspondent adds: A large number of youngsters and senior citizens held a procession to mark the World Water Day here on Wednesday.

Growers of Madd observed a silent protest in Sobhodero against shortage of water.