HYDERABAD: Activists of Sindh United Party (SUP) staged ‘Bedari March’ from Nasim Nagar to Hussainabad Chowk on Friday in protest against construction of six canals on the Indus River.

The party leaders, Roshan Buriro, Dr Badar Channa and others, who spoke to protesters at the roundabout, said the canals project was a conspiracy aimed at destroying Indus River and rendering agricultural lands barren but people of Sindh would foil it.

They said that rulers were forcibly building dams and canals over the river and pointed out that Sindh was already not getting its due share in water. The Water Accord of 1991 was not implemented in letter and spirit and Sindh was denied its share in water, they said.

They feared that if the six canals were built the river water would not reach even Sukkur Barrage. The SUP was mobilise people and uniting them on this core issue so that a joint struggle could be launched against plunder of Sindh’s resources and construction of canals, they said.

‘Violation of international law’

Sindhyani Tehreek’s central president Umra Samoon, along with other party leaders, told a press conference in Sukkur on Friday that amendments were being made to the Irsa Act to justify construction of new canals on the Indus.

She said that the federal government, with facilitation provided by Pakistan Peoples Party, was making decisions against smaller provinces, particularly Sindh.

The people of the province would never accept the federal government’s coercive decisions, she said.

She said that blocking flow of the Indus was an international crime and the federal government was committing a global offense by building the canals on the Indus. The PPP had betrayed Sindh by handing over Sindh’s water and land and natural resources to the federation, she said.

She said that people of Sindh wanted to convey this fact to the federal government that the Indus was not a property of the PPP or any government it was collective asset of Sindhi people.

The Tehreek leaders said that a reign of dacoits and terrorists had been imposed on Sindh to perpetuate plunder of Sindh’s resources. The Sindh government had turned Sukkur division into a safe haven for dacoits and criminals, they said.

They alleged that in northern districts of Sindh, dacoits were being provided weapons under official patronage, while police, instead of arresting bandits and murderers, were busy harassing peace-loving citizens.

They said that youth were deprived of employment opportunities in the companies extracting mineral resources from Sukkur, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Ghotki, Khairpur and other districts.

They announced that a grand rally against the six canals, increasing lawlessness, land grabbing and reign of dacoits in Sindh would be held in Sukkur on Dec 22.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2024