HYDERABAD, Jan 13: Sindhi Association of North America leader Iqbal Tareen has protested against construction of more dams on the Indus River and depriving Sindh of its primary right over Indus waters.

He was speaking at a Meet the Press programme at the press club here on Monday. Mr Tareen said if the government saw the Baghliar dam project as a source of dispute between India and Pakistan, how could it justify the Kalabagh dam project as an act of harmony between Sindh and Punjab.

He said the Kalabagh dam, Thal canal and usurpation of Indus waters were issues which posed threat to the national security of Pakistan. Quoting from a recent United Nations study, Mr Tareen said wars in this century would be fought over the issue of water distribution between various nations.

He regretted that Sindhis had remained marginalized and they had been facing issues of provincial autonomy, status of Sindhi language, poverty and disease, misplaced resources allocation, unemployment and distribution of water.

He wondered why a Sindhi agenda could not be pushed into the mainstream of politics in the 21st century if a handful of youth could do so 37 years ago. Mr Tareen, the founding president of the Jeay Sindh Student Federation, urged intellectuals and professionals to join hands for the common agenda. He believed that real progress in Sindh could take place with a shift in paradigms.