HYDERABAD, March 4: The chairman, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP), Dr Qadir Magsi, has said that the majority of the Sindhi people wanted to remain within the framework of Pakistan but they should not be alienated by constructing anti-Sindh projects, like the Thal canal.

He was speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Monday.

He said that eversince the inception of Pakistan the people of Sindh were being subjected to innumerable excesses, their natural resources, including harbour, oil, gas and lands, had been taken over by Punjab and now their very survival was at stake as the Thal Canal would totally destroy the economy of Sindh.

Dr Magsi said that Sindh paid 68 per cent of the total revenue to the federation but the people of the province were deprived of the basic facilities. He said that 60 per cent of the population was shelterless and was living on the lands of the landlords.

He said the Sindhi people mostly depended on agriculture but after the construction of barrages, the rich agricultural lands of Sindh had been doled out to the Punjabi growers. The remaining land was being destroyed as the LBOD and RBOD projects had been left incomplete with the intention of stealing the water of Sindh on the pretext of water management. Due to the intrusion of seawater, thousands of acres had been rendered uncultivable.

The STPP chairman said that in theory the Ecnec was a forum where decisions had to be taken through consensus by weighing the pros and cons and listening to the objections of the federating units. However, in practice, he said, the ECNEC was under the control of Punjab and it had taken arbitrary and unilateral decision about the Thal Canal.

He said that 1.5 million acres of Seraiki land would be brought under the plough whereas the rich agricultural lands of Sindh would be rendered barren.

He said that previously Sindh used to get water for three months but after the construction of the Thal Canal, no water would be available even during that period for Badin, Thatta, Sanghar, Umerkot and other districts. He said that Sindh was being punished for opposing the Kalabagh Dam.

Mr Magsi said that while the landlords had other sources of income, 90 per cent of the population was directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. He said that even a farmer who owned 200 acres was living from hand to mouth. He said that 40 million Sindhis would be starved to death if the Thal Canal was constructed.

He warned the rulers not to create a situation like 70s and called upon the patriotic people of Pakistan to come forward and save the country.

The STPP chairman demanded the bifurcation of the Wapda and the removal of its chairman.