HYDERABAD: The central council of Awami Tehreek (AT) decided on Sunday to launch a province-wide public awareness campaign against the alleged conspiracies to divide Sindh, besides moves to take away Sindh’s mineral resources and lands, and the controversial canal and dam projects.
The party resolved to hold a conference in Hyderabad on Aug 15, to be followed by similar gatherings in Karachi, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Larkana, Sanghar, Mithi and other parts of the province.
Addressing a press briefing in Qasimabad on Sunday, AT President Wasand Thari, Sajid Hussain Mahesar, Noor Ahmed Katiyar, Sattar Rind, and Sindhiani Tehreek President Umrah Samoon, among others, stated that the public would be mobilised regarding the key threats facing Sindh, including its water distribution, land, mineral wealth, and territorial unity.
The council strongly condemned a police raid on a rally organised by the Sindhi Adabi Sangat in Larkana against the division of Sindh, as well as the arrest of its leaders.
It also condemned the ongoing campaign conducted by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and its leader, Ahsan Bhoon, in favour of creating new provinces, reminding that bar councils ought to act as guardians of the Constitution, the law and the existence of constituent units.
The meeting commended those bar associations that rejected the PBC’s demands as illegal, unconstitutional and contrary to national interests. Party leaders asserted that, just as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly had adopted a resolution against the creation of new provinces, the Sindh Assembly must also pass a resolution affirming the unity of Sindh.
They alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to divide Sindh in order to suppress its voice and erode the existence and collective strength of Sindhis. By partitioning Sindh into smaller administrative units and isolating individual districts, they warned, it would become easier to seize control of the entire province’s land assets. Accusing the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of selling Sindh’s land and rivers to corporate entities, the leaders declared the PPP a partner in the plot to divide the province.
Furthermore, they stated that the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments had undermined the judiciary, while the media remained restricted and political activities curtailed. They claimed that the movement for new provinces was being backed by the establishment, which they accused of bringing forward political proxies from the MQM, Gen Musharraf’s PML-Q, the PTI and the PML-N.
Referring to statements by former minister Fawad Chaudhry — whom they described as an establishment proxy — the leaders noted that he had threatened that if people did not agree to the creation of new provinces, the decision would be imposed by force. They cautioned the establishment and its proxies that Sindh remains the historical homeland of the Sindhi people, and its division would never be accepted under any circumstances.
Turning to the water crisis, the leaders highlighted that Sindh was facing severe shortages, accusing Punjab’s rulers of making the Jalalpur canal operational while running the Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Panjnad canals throughout the year to the serious detriment of Sindh’s agrarian interests.
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2026
