ISLAMABAD, July 27: The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 came under fire in the National Assembly on Tuesday when many treasury MNAs called for getting back the Sutlej river which they alleged had been 'sold out' to India under the pact.

Speaking on a motion, moved under Rule 69, the lawmakers demanded that reclamation of the Sutlej river from India should be included in the agenda of talks between the two countries.

Moving the motion, ruling party MNA from Bahawalpur Riaz Hussain Pirzada blasted the government for 'poor water management' and said Seraiki people had been suffering due to shortage of irrigation water for the past several years.

He alleged that under the Indus Waters Treaty, water of three eastern rivers was 'sold out' to India while Mangla Dam, Tarbela Dam, some canals and link canals were constructed to provide water to the areas of lower Punjab and Sindh depriving Bahawalpur from its share.

The MNA asked the government to include the issue on the agenda of forthcoming talks with India so that Pakistan could get back the Sutlej river. The people of Bahawalpur, according to the lawmaker, had no objection if water was supplied to Sindh. However, he said, more than 50 million people would suffer if the system of river Sutlej was not recharged.

Mr Pirzada regretted that lands in Cholistan were being allotted to people who did not belong to the Seraiki areas. A master plan had been prepared to provide water to these people and ridiculed the plan to provide water to the 'sub-standard' lands at the cost of real Seraiki population. "This plan has been prepared to please a master," he added.

He said there were 'flood water channels' in Bahawalpur despite the fact that there was not even a single drop of water in river Sutlej. The MNA said the government could not resolve the issues of poverty and water shortage while holding discussions and seminars in five star hotels and seeking advice from Gen Tanveer Naqvi.

He also criticized the provincial government for not taking the issue seriously. He called for establishing a Council of Common Interests (CII) to resolve such issues.

Another ruling party MNA from Bahawalpur Farooq Azam Malik said water was an issue of life and death for the people of southern Punjab and called for releasing water in the Sutlej river to meet the requirements.

He said Bahawalpur was an independent state before 1958 and it was 'forcibly' included in Punjab. Bahawalpur had its own assembly, a high court and even it had signed some agreements with India. "If you can't resolve the issue, restore the status of a province to Bahawalpur and we will sort out the issue directly with India," he added.

The MNA received tremendous applause from the opposition benches when he sought support on the issue. He said a special house committee should be constituted to review the matter and submit its recommendations to resolve the issue.

Sardar Bahadar Khan, PML's lawmaker from Layyah, also highlighted the issue and supported the call for setting up a special committee. But People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) MNAs Syed Naveed Qamar, Syed Khurshid Shah and Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada said the matter should be referred to the NA standing committee on water and power.

Parliamentary secretary for finance Omar Ayub Khan, speaking on behalf of Federal Minister for Water and Power Aftab Sherpao, said that although water distribution was a provincial subject, but the house should consider the matter owing to its seriousness. He denied Mr Pirzada's claim that water was sold out to India.

Speaking on a point of order, Dr Sher Afgan of the PPP-Patriots challenged the parliamentary secretary on the issue and said the Indus Waters Treaty was perhaps the only pact on the earth in which a 'nature resource' was 'sold out'.

In an apparent reference to former president Ayub Khan, Dr Afgan said the agreement was signed when a military dictator was ruling Pakistan while Jawahar Lal Nehru was the leader of India. He also taunted Omar Ayub Khan, the grandson of Ayub Khan, but the remarks were expunged by Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain. Later, the speaker under Rule 180 of Constitution, referred the matter to the standing committee on water and power for consideration.