KARACHI, Dec 12: General council of the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (Ponam) has ruled out any possibility of talks with the government on the construction of Kalabagh Dam and vowed to resist pressure from the government in this regard.

It is learnt from Ponam sources that the council, which met here on Sunday, also discussed a strategy to counter the government’s plan and decided to mobilize public opinion against the dam project through contacts with like-minded parties.

The council also expressed concern over the ‘undeclared operation’ in Balochistan.

“The Ponam considers construction of Kalabagh dam detrimental to the interests of smaller provinces as the project serves the interests of the bigger province. It, therefore, wants the government to do away with the plan,” it was declared.

The council was of the view that the Punjab should not get water at the cost of the rights of smaller provinces, the sources said.

Through various resolutions adopted at the meeting, the council criticized the Kalabagh dam, Thal Canal and Gwadar port projects, as well as allotment of 50,000 acres of land for the Aga Khan City.

One of the resolutions opposed the establishment of cantonments in the coastal areas of Balochistan. It also opposed the re-demarcation to carve out new districts in Sindh.

Another resolution referred to the situation in Balochistan and pointed out that an undeclared operation was under way there. It strongly criticized the federal government’s policy vis-à-vis Balochistan.

The council demanded renaming the NWFP as ‘Pakhtoonkhwa’ and creation of a new province ‘Seraikistan’.

The council meeting was presided over by Baloch nationalist leader Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal and was attended by SNF chief Mumtaz Bhutto, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Jalal Mehmood Shah, Abdul Majid Kanjo, Mohammad Afzal Khan, Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Dr Qadir Magsi, Zain Shah, Ghulam Shah, Ali Hasan Chandio and others.