HYDERABAD: Sindh United Party’s president, Syed Zain Shah, has condemned Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s statement on controversial canals and termed it anti-federation.

Shah said at a news conference after chairing a meeting of his party’s central executive committee at his residence in Jamshoro on Wednesday that the Punjab was already drawing more water than its decided share.

He said that instead of criticising Punjab CM, Pakistan Peoples Party should get the July 8 executive order on canals revoked. It were people of Sindh who had forced the government to take back its decision on canals but if the issue was resurrected then people would once again offer resistance, he warned.

He said that PPP’s walkout from National Assembly over Ms Nawaz’s statement was just an eyewash. It was the president who had approved the canals’ project and he should revoke it now, he said.

He lambasted PPP and PML-N over the issue of NFC Award and said that no change in the award’s resource distribution formula would be accepted. The federation did not have any right to cut deals on mines and mineral with foreign companies as it was tantamount to undermining provincial autonomy and violate constitution which guaranteed that these subjects belonged to provinces, he said.

He said that port belonged to Sindh and all earnings out of it should be spent on the province’s development. Oil, gas and coal produced by Sindh were being usurped by federal government, which was condemnable, he said.

He was critical of Sindh Public Service Commission and vowed to stage protests if recruitment was not done transparently. Karachi was Pakistan’s business capital but 60pc of its population did not have access to clean drinking water, he lamented.

He demanded that work on K-IV project should be expedited and completed in time to provide potable water to Karachi where tanker mafia ruled the roost.

Federal and Sindh governments should release Rs900bn for Karachi’s development works, he said.

Pakistan’s foreign policy was in fact a business deal instead of a peace deal because through Sindh’s lands were sold to foreigners through such policies. Foreign policy should be designed for people’s uplift and welfare, he said, adding SUP would hold a seminar on foreign policy on Oct 9 in Karachi. He condemned Rs1300bn petroleum levy and expressed grief over murder of journalist Imtiaz Mir.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2025