HYDERABAD, June 17: A movement against Thal canal construction was launched in Sindh on Tuesday as hundreds of political leaders and activists, including some MNAs and MPAs, observed a token hunger strike on the bed of the River Indus near Kotri.

On the call of the Anti-Greater Thal Canal Action Committee, token hunger strikes were also observed in almost every city and town of the province, including Karachi, Sukkur, Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Dadu, Nawabshah, Thatta and Badin.

Speaking at the main hunger strike camp, leader of opposition in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, who is also the convener of the action committee, urged the people to raise their voice against those who were pursuing anti-Sindh policies.

He said it was a universally-acknowledged principle that people living at the tail-end of a river had the first right over its waters but deplored that the government was not honouring the principle.

He refuted the statements of some Sindh ministers that water was being released downstream Kotri.

The People’s Party Parliamentarians leader said that non-allocation of due share of the National Finance Commission award, destruction of agriculture sector, shortage of water and construction of projects like the Thal canal had badly affected Sindh.

He criticized former Sindh governor Mohammedmian Soomro for supporting the project, saying that as he was not an elected leader, he had no authority to give his views on behalf of the people of the province.

Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Palijo urged the people to struggle for the rights of Sindh irrespective of their political affiliations. He demanded due share of water for Sindh and shelving of projects on the River Indus.

Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz chairman Bashir Qureshi invited members of the action committee to join his party’s protest over the water issue in Karachi on June 25.

Other speakers also slammed the rulers for executing the Thal canal project despite reservations of Sindh and unanimous adoption of a resolution in the Sindh Assembly in this regard.

Those who observed a token hunger strike on the river bed included Mr Khuhro, PPP MNAs Khurshid Shah and Nawab Yusuf Talpur, Aftab Shah Jilani, party MPAs Qaim Ali Shah, Sassui Palijo and Humera Alvani, Mutthaida Majlis-i-Amal MPA Rehman Rajput, Mr Palijo, Mr Qureshi, Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party chief Dr Qadir Magsi, Afzal Gujjar of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, Majeed Nizamani of the Sindh Abadgar Board, Saleem Tareen of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Azhar Jatoi of the Sindh Hari Committee and Imdad Kazi of the Community Party of Pakistan.