HYDERABAD, Oct 24: The Anti-Greater Thal Canal Action Committee has demanded that the teaching of Sindhi language should be made compulsory from primary to intermediate levels.

The committee expressed apprehensions that on the pretext of the Oct 8 earthquake, unilateral decisions would be taken in the distribution of resources under the NFC award.

A meeting of the action committee was held at the residence of PPP leader and MPA Syed Ali Nawaz Shah Rizvi here on Sunday.

Committee’s convenor and Sindh PPP president Syed Qaim Ali presided over the meeting.

Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Palijo, STPP chairman Dr Qadir Magsi, Sindh Water Committee secretary Abrar Kazi, PML-N leader Afzal Gujjar and a representative of growers Nazeer Memon attended the meeting.

Rejecting the result of the local body elections, the committee was of the view that ground was being levelled to muster support for the construction of anti-Sindh Kalabagh dam and greater Thal canal projects.

Briefing the reporters at the conclusion of the meeting, Qaim Ali shah said the committee had rejected the World Bank report on Kalabagh dam as it was against the interest of Sindh.

He regretted that the World Bank had not taken the representatives of Sindh into confidence before offering funds for the dam.

He said that the action committee suspended its activities due to earthquake but it would hold its next meeting in November and evolve a strategy for launching a movement against the Kalabagh dam.

He said that the 1972 Sindhi language bill for teaching Salees Sindhi to students of class-XI was in the interest of all the people of Sindh.

He regretted that a settled issue has again been reopened and demanded that the language act should be fully implemented.

Rejecting the results of local body elections, Mr Shah alleged that these results were engineered to muster support for the construction of Kalabagh dam and the arbitrary decision with regard to the distribution of resources under the NFC award.

He warned that if the award was announced against the interest of Sindh on the pretext of earthquake, it would be rejected.

Expressing profound sorrow and grief over the loss of life and property in the earthquake, Shah said that had the government called out the army immediately, many lives could have been saved.

He appreciated the efforts of the political parties and other organisations for providing relief to the earthquake victims.

Answering a question, Rasool Bux Palijo said that according to a report, the sites of Kalabagh, Bhasha and Tarbela dams were located in the earthquake zone.

He said that Tarbela dam area has been hit by earthquake on three previous occasions.

He said that if Kalabagh dam was constructed, it could create more devastations than the present earthquake in any natural calamity of an equal magnitude.

SU: A training workshop on digital liberary was organized at the Sindh University recently.