PESHAWAR, Dec 12: Declaring Kalabagh dam as a recipe for disaster, the Awami National Party (ANP) said on Monday that Punjab should seriously think “whether it wants to co-exist with other federating units”.

In a scathing attack on President Pervez Musharraf’s talks with editors and writers in Karachi, ANP’s central vice-president Haji Muhammad Adeel said the statement proved that Pakistan was not a genuine federation.

“It is a failed federation,” Adeel said in a statement released to the press here.

He said that the president had openly admitted that Punjab would throw out rulers who opposed the big province.

“In this so-called federation, Sindh, Balochistan and ‘Pukhtunkhwa’ have no status,” the ANP leader said.

He said that no matter how many times assemblies opposed the construction of Kalabagh dam, it would be built because Punjab wanted so.

Adeel said that Musharraf wanted to remain the president of Pakistan for an indefinite period, as he had been the army chief for an indefinite period based on his statement that he would oversee the construction of Kalabagh dam.

“A big dam takes at least 15 years to complete and he (Musharraf) is saying that he would remain in power till the construction of Kalabagh dam,” the ANP leader said.

Adeel warned that those who supported the construction of controversial dam would face humiliation. He reiterated his party’s opposition to Kalabagh dam as well as Akhori Dam.

He alleged that Punjab aimed to steal and rob NWFP of its waters through the proposed Akhori dam.