Protests against Kalabagh dam plan continue
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HYDERABAD: More rallies and demonstrations were held in different parts of Sindh on Tuesday to oppose construction of Kalabagh dam as leaders of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, nationalist outfits and civil society organisations continued to criticise moves to revive the “dead issue”.
Known activists Punhal Sario, Jami Chandio, Mohammed Ali Shah, Mushtaq Mirani, Mukhtiar Abbasi, Zulfiqar Halepoto, Noor Ahmed Katiar, Apa Nazeer Qureshi and others led a rally of civil society organisations who gathered outside the local press club and raised slogans against the dam.
The activists vowed to resist construction of any new dam over the Indus.
They called for upholding democratic values and respecting aspirations of the masses. If Constitution and law were trampled over, it would be difficult for the country to survive, they said.
They were of the view that a decision on such issues should only be taken by the Council of Common Interests (CCI).
The activists contested the Supreme Court chief justice’s view that Article 6 (high treason) of the Constitution could be invoked against those opposing [Bhasha] dam, and argued that any citizen whose fundamental rights were jeopardised could raise his voice.
Meanwhile, the Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) has finalised its plan to hold a series of protests and observe hunger strike across Sindh from Sept 23 to 26 against the Kalabagh dam plan and the PM’s proposal to issue CNICs to immigrants in Karachi, according to a QAT statement issued here on Tuesday.
Protests in Umerkot
The Umerkot Bar Association on Tuesday opposed construction of any new dam over the Indus river.
Members of the association held a demonstration and passed a resolution which called for an end to all moves towards construction of new dams over Indus.
Reading out the resolution, its president Poonjo Bheel, said that all such moves which could cause a harm to the lives of Sindh’s people and undermine the economy of the province in the shape of dams must be stopped.
The resolution said that such unacceptable decisions should not be thrust upon the people of Sindh.
BADIN
A group of lawyers boycotted proceedings of courts in Badin district on Tuesday and held a rally against proposed construction of Kalabagh dam.
Speaking to the participants on the premises of Badin district and sessions court, their leaders Ameer Azad Panwher, Noor Mohammed Soomro, Aftab Mallah and others said it was a matter of concern that the chief justice of Pakistan was advocating a dam project which was already rejected by three provincial assemblies.
They said the three smaller provinces were right in believing that Kalabagh dam would aggravate the already acute water shortage in their areas.
The coastal districts of Thatta, Sujawal and Badin would turn barren, they added.
The lawyers also criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposal about giving nationality to Pakistan-born children of Afghan and Bengali immigrants. They vowed to intensify their protest if nationality was offered to illegal immigrants.
Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2018
