June 02, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 27, 1429

MULTAN, June 1: The Seraikistan Qaumi Movement has announced to launch a long march along both banks of the Indus River for the construction of Kalabagh Dam from July 1.

In a press release issued here on Sunday, Seraikistan Qaumi Movement president Hameed Asghar Shaheen announced launching the long march simultaneously from Kashmore along the right bank and Kot Sabzal in Rahim Yar Khan district along the left bank of the Indus River.

He said that participants of the long march would reach Kalabagh Dam site in Mianwali district on July 3 in the first phase where a protest gathering would be held.

In the second phase, he said, the protesters would start their long march from Kalabagh to the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad on the same day.

He said that Seraki people would not allow others to decide their fate. The government’s decision to shelve the Kalabagh Dam project would affect the benefits of Seraiki people, he said and added that Seraikis alone had the right to decide whether or not the Kalabagh Dam should be constructed. No other nations, including Sindhi, Punjabi, Pakhtoon or Baloch, had the right to impose their will on the construction of Kalabagh Dam because the dam was being constructed in the Seraiki belt, he added.