HYDERABAD, Feb 2: The Sindh Water Committee has criticized the stand of President Pervez Musharraf on Kalabagh Dam, saying that the propaganda campaign launched in favour of big reservoirs was tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of the people of Sindh.

A meeting of the body held on Wednesday was discussing the statements of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, which he gave during his recent visit to Sindh on the proposed dam.

The meeting observed that the construction of big dams was a conspiracy not only against Sindh, but also against the integrity of the country. But the president continued his pro-Kalabagh Dam campaign, it said.

It criticized the security arrangements for President Musharraf's visit to the province, due to which various areas had witnessed curfew-like situation. Participants refuted the claim of Gen Musharraf that he was a Sindhi, saying that the people of Sindh considered him the chief of the establishment and the ruling elite.

The meeting said ministers, who were in favour of big dams, had nothing to do with Sindhis as they were considered traitors, and alleged that the rulers were bent upon weakening the foundation of Pakistan through conspiracies.

The people of Sindh, it said, believed that River Indus was the only source of their lives. After the imposition of one-unit system, Sindh had been kept at bay from decision-making and three rivers had been sold, though the province had a historic right to them. Sindh had been robbed of its water by constructing Mangla and Tarbela dams on Indus River, said the meeting.

On the one hand the government had approached World Bank over the Baghliar Dam issue while on the other it was planning to construct Thal canal and Kalabagh Dam without the consent of Sindh, said it.

The meeting said if the rulers continued to support the big dams despite a consensus against these water projects, Sindhis would be justified to think that they had been sidelined.

It appealed to the World Bank and other international organisations to disassociate themselves from these anti-Sindh and anti-Pakistan water projects. It also urged the members of civil society and political parties to support the people of Sindh at this crucial juncture.

The meeting said majority of the provinces and ethnic communities had described Kalabagh Dam and the Greater Thal Canal as unconstitutional and illegal, and it was in fact a murderous attempt on the existence of Sindh. Rasool Bux Palejo presided over the meeting and Ibrar Kazi, Prof Mushtaq Mirani, Muzaffar Sadiq Bhatti, Abdul Majeed Nizamani, Qurban Ali Shah and others attended it.