KARACHI, Dec 15: The mainstream opposition parties, including components of ARD and nationalist parties, on Thursday vowed not to let one man impose Kalabagh Dam which they said was to the detriment of the interest of Pakistan’s unity and decided to stage a protest rally here on Dec 22.

This was stated by Syed Qaim Ali Shah at a news conference after the meeting of the anti-Kalabagh and anti-Greater Thal Canal committee.

Mr Shah who had chaired the meeting told newsmen that the protest rally would commence from Quaid’s Mazar and terminate at the Sindh High Court. He said that all those who are opposed to Kalabagh dam and consider it against the interest of Sindh and other smaller provinces, should attend to publicly demonstrate their rejection.

He said that the rally would be peaceful and if the government tried to obstruct it, it would be responsible for the consequences.

The meeting was also attended by the ARD chairman and Vice chairman of the PPP, Makhdoom Amin Fahim. Those who attended included Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Rasool Bux Paleejo, Makhdoom Shahnawaz, Hasil Bizenjo, Dr Qadir Magsi, Rashid Rabbani, Shah Mohammad Shah and others.

Participants of the meeting were firm on their rejection of the KBD because it would turn more than 1.2 million acres of Sindh land into desert.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that Chief Minister’ Sindh’s speech on the floor of the Sindh Assembly was a pack of semantics and it was not categorical in opposing the Kalabagh Dam. He said since the chief minister had failed to protect the interests of Sindh, he should step down.

Mr Shah said that the ruling party and its coalition partners only talked about the interest of Sindh but they had not taken any positive step in that direction. He said that instead of standing alongside the anti-KBD and anti-GTC forces, they were trying to create confusion through dubious statements.

He said that there was no justification for KBD which had been rejected by the assemblies of Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan. In the context of recent statements of the government leaders, the platform declared it was not afraid of threats.

Participants were not prepared to believe in the constitutional guarantees offered by Gen Pervez Musharraf because he had “subverted the Constitution” with impunity.

The meeting noted that patriotic people in Punjab were also not in favour of any project that would undermine integrity of the country.

The participants were of the view that Kalabagh dam was a dead issue and had been rejected by three federating units and declared that there was no question of any dialogue with the regime on this issue.

They were also of the view that Gen Musharraf had raised the issue to divert attention from the regime’s alleged corruption and lack of democracy and rule of law.

Central Information Secretary of the PPP Taj Haider said that there was no variation or division within the party on the Kalabagh issue. He said that the party had a well thought out policy, which was aimed at protecting the interest of Pakistan. He pointed out that the party’s unified stand on the issue was obvious from the fact that the adjournment motion on the subject in the National Assembly was moved by the party members from Punjab. He said that anti-people elements and agent provocateurs would not succeed in their design.