MIRPURKHAS: Scores of workers of the Sindh United Party, other nationalist parties and social organisations took out a march from Old Mirpur to Mirpurkhas on Saturday to protest against federal government’s project of building six new canals on Indus River.

Led by local SUP office-bearers Lala Azhar Pathan and Mohammad Khan Marri, Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party’s Kareem Keerio, Taj Mohammad Rind and others, the protesters, carrying banners and placards and raising slogans, marched 18 kilometres on foot before arriving at local press club.

The leaders demanded the federal government cancel the controversial canals project in the larger interest of Sindhi people.

They condemned the federal government for rendering Sindh barren and devastating its agricultural lands. Many anti-Sindh projects were launched by the government in past as well but masses rejected them outright through massive protests throughout the province and forced the government to take back the disputed projects, they said.

They said that regretfully, Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman and President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari himself had given approval of the anti-Sindh canals project while his party pretended to oppose it before general public.

They said that Mirpurkhas division was already facing acute shortage of water but after release of water into the new canals the division’s lands would become barren.

They said that Punjab had already sold its three rivers to India and constructed dams and link canals on Indus River which was a dacoity on Sindh’s share in water. Now, it wanted to grab the remaining water of Sindh but Sindhis would not accept the canals project, they said.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2024